The Day The Earth Stood Still
by Sare Liz
Summary: Her body, her mind and her blood - these were the three things my world now revolved around. I don't know what I'll do if I can't have all three... -Winner of two Mystic Awards.-
1. First Sight, part 1

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P. Because she rocks.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer, and I am grateful that she allows us all to play in the sandbox of her construction. Thank you, ma'am.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: Teen, for now. It strikes me that the way Ms. Meyer writes Edward's perspective is not necessarily nor exclusively for a teen audience, as Edward himself is inwardly about as far from a teen as one can get. But _my_ rating is teen, for now, subject to change.

**Author's** **Notes**: Due to the nature of this story, _much_ of it comes from Midnight Sun and Twilight, starting on the middle of page 4 of Midnight Sun, but quickly you will notice it diverge. I hope, however, that my characterizations will remain spot on.

See my blog post for ranting/musing on vampire ontology, pertinent to this fic – and feel free to leave comments there – I'd love to know your take on it. Addy: revsarey .wordpress .com/2009/03/12/twilight-hm/

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced of three things. First, that Edward's inability to hear Bella's thoughts leads to the worst excesses of the negative aspects of his character. His autocratic bearing, his temper, his inability to respect her autonomy and her intelligence, his tendency to brood, and his basic insecurity – all because he has no concept of how much she loves him, how much she knows her own mind, and he refuses to give her the benefit of the doubt. He treats his lack of _experience_ of her thoughts to be the actual lack of thoughts, in many ways.

Second, that Edward's overwhelming bloodlust when it comes to Bella significantly alters his experience of her in a way that even he, in his over analysis of all things, has never considered. Like a newborn who must learn to control their bloodlust before anything else is dealt with, so it goes with Edward. He is left completely at the mercy of his instincts, thus his grip on reality is really quite tenuous, leaving him entirely unable to apply to his situation the vast intelligence that he has and the century of experience and insight into the mind of vampires and humans alike.

Third, that these two things combined serve to cut off Edward, and thus, Bella, and indeed, most if not all of the Cullen Clan, to a basic truth that I have put into the mouth of Esme in this story. That truth is this: Vampires mate for life. The bond is formed in only a moment or two, it is permanent, mutual, irrevocable, and there is no possibility for it to be mistaken for anything else, as vampires otherwise do not fall in love. Further more, the only vampire in the Cullen Clan who bonded with _another vampire instead of a human_ was Alice.

Of these three things, I am absolutely convinced.

**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

***

Chapter One: First Sight, part one

***

_Edward Cullen._

Reflex reaction. I turned to the sound of my name being called, though it wasn't being called, just thought. That's what happened when people sharpened their thoughts – sometimes thoughts were foggy and nebulous, a mix of audio-visual colors, shapes, and tones, mental manifestations of their angers and anxieties, but other times, more or less often, depending on the person in question, the thoughts were as clearly enunciated as a stage actor's dialogue, and just as loud.

My eyes locked for a small portion of a second with a pair of wide, chocolate-brown human eyes set in a pale, heart-shaped face. I knew the face, though I'd never seen it myself before this moment. It had been the foremost in every human head today. The new student, Isabella Swan. Daughter of the town's chief of police, brought here to live by some new custody situation. Bella. She'd corrected everyone who'd used her full name…

I looked away, bored. It took me a moment to realize that she was not the one to think my name.

_Of course she's already crushing on the Cullens,_ I heard the first thought continue, before I recognized the voice: Jessica Stanley. Not the most interesting or original of minds, nor one of the kindest or compassionate of people. Vipers had a kinder and gentler personality than Jessica Stanley. What a relief it had been when she'd gotten over her misplaced infatuation. It used to be nearly impossible to escape her constant, ridiculous daydreams. I'd wished, at the time, that I could explain to her _exactly_ what would have happened if my lips, and the teeth behind them, had gotten anywhere near her. That would have silenced those annoying fantasies. The thought of her reaction almost made me smile.

_Edward and Emmett Cullen_, a new mental voice gently whispered. If it hadn't been my own name she'd mentioned, I would never have picked up the barely perceptible, yet sweetly melodic tone of it. It was a sharp, clear thought, and for the moment there was very little background shading to it at all, save a sliver of fascination and awe. Normal, almost. By all rights there ought to be some trepidation in there as well, though there wasn't.

I had to listen hard for the rest, which was always difficult. Listening harder meant having to sort through the rest of the distracting thoughts around her which then seemed all the louder for my efforts. Most of these minds were centered on her. I stared at the bagel before me as I listened.

_Rosalie and Jasper Hale, _she thought. _ She must be the stunningly beautiful one. I wonder if the tall, lanky one is Jasper. They look like they could be related. He __**does**__ look like he's in pain. Alice Cullen, the one who left. Got it. And they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife. I wonder if he's a medical doctor. Are the Hale's adopted, I wonder? _She thought it was strange that we should all be so beautiful, but tired looking. It was a thought that was less clearly formed, a background thought; an impression, even.

_I wonder which one is the beautiful boyish one. _I saw an image of myself in her mind, and the mental fog of confusion – was I Edward or Emmett? But I could see myself, my untidy bronze hair, pale skin, dark eyes complete with the deep purple rings I tend to get when I haven't fed in two or three weeks. The only difference from what I'd normally see in the mirror was the ineffable sense of adoration that colored the vision. It was shocking, because it was so familiar.

It wasn't the way Jessica Stanley had daydreamed about me when we'd first moved here, or the way Tanya thought of me, or any other person who'd looked at me with any softer emotion shading their thoughts. No, that wasn't it at _all_.

It was the way that Carlisle and Esme saw each other in their thoughts. It was the way that Rosalie and Emmett saw each other in their thoughts. It was the way that Alice and Jasper saw each other in their thoughts.

I was stunned, and wanted to take another glance, but didn't dare just yet. I knew she was still looking at me. I stayed tuned to her, listening, even as I spoke softly and quickly to Emmett, as if to negate the enormity of what seemed to be occurring.

"New girl seems harmless. Jessica Stanley's giving her the lowdown on the Cullen Clan." I started to pick apart my bagel. Little human gestures, always keeping up the façade.

He chuckled under his breath. _I hope she's making it good,_ he thought.

"Rather unimaginative, actually. But so is she. I'll keep you posted," I said, leaving it there and shifting my focus back entirely to Bella. If Emmett thought anything in response, I missed it.

_Strange, unpopular names,_ she thought. _The kinds of names grandparents have. But maybe that is in vogue here – small town names? Jessica,_ she thought of her neighbor. _No, that's a perfectly common name. There were two girls named Jessica in my History class back home._

"They are… very nice-looking," I heard her say, and it was true that her voice was a very appealing complement to her thoughts. She was trying to be kind, trying to maintain the conversation, and it seemed difficult for her.

_They're all together?_ There was a sudden flash of unspoken horror in her thoughts, and I could see that same picture of me, adored. She thought I was taken, whoever I was.

In that moment I had a totally irrational desire to permanently wire Jessica Stanley's mouth shut, but I squelched it with great success.

_Emmett and Rosalie, Jasper and Alice, and they live together. Jessica is so small town in her condemnation… and yet even in Phoenix that would cause gossip, _Bella thought.

"Which ones are the Cullens? They don't look related…" she trailed off.

_Not related. Okay, well, that's not so bad, then. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, though, twins. They're the blond ones. Right, I guessed that. They're foster children?_

"They look a little old for foster children," she commented dubiously.

_They don't look 18, either, but I guess we're all getting older faster these days. They've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight, wow. She's their aunt. I wonder what happened to their parents? How kind of for her to take them in, especially how young she was. I bet she's a more with-it mom than Renee. And it looks like they turned out pretty well, for experiencing something so tragic, so young._

"That's really kind of nice – for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything." I could hear the truth in her thoughts behind her words. She wasn't just saying it.

I officially liked Bella Swan. As a point of fact, Carlisle and Esme were incredibly nice, and it was good that others recognized it.

_Jessica doesn't like the doctor and his wife? I bet she's jealous. Not everyone has a good family. Not all of us have the benefit of even both parents at once. _ Then I heard her thoughts take a turn for the sharp, as she listened to Jessica's increasingly negative commentary about Esme. _Should the fact that she's unable to have one child lessen her kindness for taking on such a huge responsibility as to adopt __**five**__ of them?_

I liked Bella Swan even more.

She was looking at us again, furtively, her eyes darting over, and then back again.

_Strange family, _she thought. _Staring at the walls, not eating. I wonder why I've never seen them before. I wonder if they've always lived here._

"Have they always lived in Forks?" _Surely,_ she thought, _I would have noticed them on one of my summers here._

_They just moved down from Alaska, two years ago? You mean I'm not the only new person here? Oh, thank God! I wonder if they had to go through the horrors I'm having to deal with. At least they had each other, though that might not necessarily make it easier, I guess._ The amount of underlying compassion in her tone was almost overwhelming. _Well, at least I'm not the only newcomer here, and certainly I'm not the most interesting by any standard. That's some relief, anyway._

The vision of me was back in her thoughts, me as I sat at the table half turned away, fiddling with my bagel, which she'd noticed I wasn't eating. Bronze hair, check. Pale skin, check. Slight build – well, at least compared to Emmett – check. Youngest looking, check. Inhumanly beautiful, check. And yet, there it was, the unmistakable foundation of her thoughts, that same mental aftertaste of adoration that was so common among my family when one of us looked at our mates.

One of us, I say, but exclude myself.

How could it be? How could she be so different from every other human I'd ever come into contact with? There had been thousands – tens of thousands – that had interacted with me, thoughts in which I had seen myself. Why would she be any different?

I couldn't help myself. I had to look.

Well, she was beautiful, but many humans are. Her eyes were a deeper sort of brown than the usually flat and depthless variety I'd noticed on people before. She dressed as if she didn't care what she wore, so long as it served its purpose, which had nothing to do with fashion. She wore no makeup, but then, she didn't need to. She was still young, and her skin was flawless and nearly as pale as mine. She was… _appealing_, and it bothered me that she had to sit next to Jessica the Viper. She shouldn't have to be exposed to someone as spiteful and self-centered as that. She was appealing to me and I wanted to know more, and even as I realized that, it confused the hell out of me. Why _should_ I want to know more about a human? I'd never wanted it before so why should I start now? But that was it – there had never been one like Bella Swan before.

Another thought that confused me.

My analysis of her had taken only a fraction of a second, during which I held her gaze, but quickly by human standards she looked away.

She was embarrassed to be caught staring at me. She thought I was beautiful, but had no wish to be rude, or to make me feel uncomfortable. _The beautiful boy seems frustrated. Who is he? Which one is he, already? Edward or Emmett? _she mentally demanded of the girl next to her, who seemed to be drawing it out with all the gossip she knew, making the unveiling that much more savory and dramatic.

"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?" She peeked over at me, and yes, now I did feel frustrated, Bella, thank you for noticing. Why do you matter, dear sweet human? Why are you so _interesting_?

Oh, yes, I thought with a strange surge of satisfaction when her eyes slid slowly back to mine. Something curled in my stomach as we held each other's gaze, and it was decidedly pleasant.

_Still staring,_ she thought.

Yes, yes I am. You are a mystery wrapped in an enigma, Bella Swan, worth of gazing upon.

_But not gawking. _

I do not gawk. That goes without saying. I'm glad you noticed. But why? Why do you notice? Why do I notice? Why does this matter? Why are you so damnedably fascinating?

_Still frustrated._

Of course I'm frustrated! You'd be frustrated, too, Bella.

_Still beautiful._

Likewise, my dear, I thought, only realizing a moment later that my own underlying thoughts were edging toward the same adoration. They weren't there yet, but they were coming close. The possibility was terrifying and exciting all at once, and I refused to consider what it might mean. I refused to name it.

And then she looked down, and the brief, but intense connection lessened.

_Edward,_ she thought, and the deliciousness of her tone slid down my spine. _His name is Edward Cullen. He doesn't date? He's not taken! No one is good-looking enough for him? Wow, that sounds like a clear case of sour grapes. I wonder when he turned you down, Jessica. _

That's my girl, I thought smugly. Very perceptive, Bella. I was so relieved that she was able to see through Jessica Stanley's vituperous commentary that I had to look away and smile.

_Wow, she's really bitter, _Bella thought and I could hear the amusement in her tone. _Looks like __**he's**__ smiling, too._

Her thoughts were quiet, unusually quiet then, and when I listened harder, I heard nothing at all. It was very strange. Few people in this world had thoughts that were quiet for any length of time, and it was usually the spiritual masters and gurus who'd been able to master the art of taming their thoughts. Could it be that she had this knack, or was there something wrong with me? Strange, but certainly not the most strange occurrence of the day.

"Shall we?" Rosalie murmured, and as we all rose to leave, picking up our props as we went, I could hear her again.

_So graceful. Wow, even the big brawny one, Emmett, is incredibly graceful. It's almost unnerving. The boy named Edward – not even a glance._ I heard her mental sigh, and it was all I could do to stare straight ahead and not look over and smile at her. That would never do. I really ought to keep my distance. Yes, I will keep my distance, of course. As I always do. Situation normal.

But even though we left the room, even though I returned to my locker to retrieve my biology props, my attention was with Bella, still in the cafeteria.

_What's the time? Should I linger a bit longer? I suppose I ought to. Charlie would be so proud; look at me, attempting to make friends. What are these people's names, again? Jessica. I remember Jessica. And the rest… is a blur. But I really don't want to be late for class on my first day. Not a good impression, or a good trend._

_Oh, good. Time to go, everyone's going. Next class, next class, biology. Angela. So glad she reminded me of her name. She has Biology II, too? _

Biology II? My Biology II? Biology II with only one open seat, conveniently located at my lab table? I sat down at said lab table and per usual allowed my props to carelessly flood over the table. See? Edward Cullen: not a meticulous vampire, a sloppy teenager.

_Great – she seems really nice. Wow, silence. That's a first, and welcome, too. I guess she's shy, like me. Oh, I really like her._

_Okay, this is Biology II. Mr. Banner. I wonder if I'll be able to sit with Angela. That would be so great. I hope, I hope, aw, shucks. She's already got a lab partner. Oh, no, does everyone have a lab partner? Welcome to my purgatory. One more strike against Forks. Every table is—Oh, God. Beautiful, messy, bronze hair. Edward Cullen, and the one open seat, next to him. Oh, okay. Breathe, Bella. Teacher, first._

The door to the room was at the back, and so was my lab table. She walked right by me, and dear God, she smelled good. Her blood smelled as good as always, but _she_ smelled good, like lavender and freesia. Without even thinking, I took a sudden, deep breath, and looked at Bella. She was looking at me. I saw my face in her mind – she found me deliciously handsome up close, and I have to admit that the feeling was mutual. She blushed, though, and my throat began to burn… and at this point Bella proceeded to trip over nothing. I had to keep myself in my seat, and it was difficult. My instinct was to reach out and catch her, but she caught herself.

The girl across the aisle from me giggled at Bella's clumsiness, and my gaze shifted sharply to glare at the stupid twit and her rudeness. She saw me and her face quickly shifted to one of fear before she looked back down to her notebook.

_His eyes are black, _Bella thought. _Coal black._

Bella continued on to the teacher's desk without incident. "Hi, I'm Bella Swan," she murmured to the teacher, handing over the same familiar sheet of paper that all new transfers had to have signed by each teacher.

_Biology textbook. Signed sheet. And? Yes! No nonsense about introductions. I can tell we are going to get along just fine, Mr. Banner. Oh, and hm, he has no choice but to send me to the one open seat in the middle of the room back there. Eyes down. Don't stare. He looks at me like he's curious, like he's frustrated, like he's somehow interested in me, which makes no sense whatsoever. Beautiful, perfect, fascinating boys like him just aren't interested in plain, boring girls like me._

Plain? Boring? What? Where? Surely she couldn't be so unaware of herself as to think that she was plain? She was a very beautiful young woman. Clear, lovely features in a well-balanced heart-shaped face. Deep, wide, chocolate-brown eyes. Beautiful thick brown hair. Captivating smell. Alluring figure. A gentle, husky voice. Small, delicate hands. A kind, compassionate, unassuming way about her. The most interesting human mind I'd ever heard. If Rosalie was a shallow pool, and Emmett a clear lake, the Bella was certainly the patch of ocean with the Great Barrier Reef – endlessly fascinating and entrancing. I knew I did not yet know her well, her likes and dislikes, her talents and dreams, but still I would never call her boring. She was the most interesting thing I'd come across in the last fifty years. Possibly the most interesting thing I'd come across in the entirety of my existence.

Bella Swan was anything but plain and boring. She was as beautiful and startling as the sun at midnight.

She set her textbook down on the table and took her seat without looking at me. That would not do. I had somehow forgotten about my decision to ignore her. It was a silly decision anyway, I'd later conclude; I had based it on an absence of quality information and experience.

I shifted my body ever so slightly, angling it toward her as I leaned my weight on my elbow opposite her as it rested on the table. I was staring at her intently when she looked up. The smile that slowly curved up the corner of my lip was completely involuntary. She was lovely. I couldn't help it.

Her eyes went wide and I could hear her heart rate increase, but the smell of her blood was almost negligible. Well, no, that was Carlisle's level and I was not yet there. If her blood spilt in front of me, I would still be hard pressed to maintain my seat, much less my countenance, but it was like experiencing the Siren's call with ears full of wax. I knew it was delicious, for it smelled very good and I suppose if I focused on it, I wouldn't have to take much time to work myself up into a state. But rather, with the wax in my ears I was finally able to admire my siren for her beauty, instead of letting her voice lead me to my doom. For the first time ever, the smell of human blood held no fascination for me.

_Oh! Edward! _ The tenor of her thoughts was so savory. I smiled a little wider.

"Hello," I said softly to her, as if I was afraid of scaring her off, as if I was afraid that if I spoke too loudly the delicious unfamiliar curling in the pit of my stomach would somehow disappear. "I'm Edward Cullen," I said, introducing myself. It was a necessary conversation opener, as she didn't know what I knew.

_Uh… Oh… Uh… Wow. He's… Uh… Gosh._

"Bella Swan," she said just as softly, breathing it out.

I smiled even wider. I was feeling giddy. "It's_ very_ nice to meet you, Bella Swan. Welcome to Washington," I said, my voice getting softer and softer. I only wanted her to hear.

_Oh my god. Want. Want. Want. I've never wanted a boy like I want this one. I wasn't aware you __**could**__ want a boy as bad as I want this one. What am I saying? He's not a boy, he's a Greek__** god.**_

I looked down at the table before me, fully smiling yet bashful, a soft snort of laughter escaping.

_Oh my god, he's beautiful. It's not fair for one person to be this breathtakingly beautiful. He's so beautiful it hurts. I don't think I'm breathing… Breathe, breathe, breathe._

True to form, she did start breathing again, and I looked back at her, up from under my lashes. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face, though.

"So, Bella, are you enjoying your stay in Forks so far?" I'd gotten the distinct impression that this town wasn't her favorite, but I wanted to keep her talking. I didn't want this to end, and if I couldn't address her views on my beauty, then small talk would suffice. Besides, I wanted to know more about her impressions of this little rainy town.

_Oh… It's going to be much better than I anticipated, if you keep talking to me, Edward Cullen._

I have no intentions of stopping, Bella Swan.

"Um, it's looking up," she said earnestly and finally, _finally,_ she smiled at me. O, blessed, wonderful Universe! If Bella Swan could smile at _me_, it might just be possible that God hadn't forsaken me after all.

"Well, that's something."

"Yea," she said. "I heard that you were new, too. I mean, your family. Your _family_… was new."

_Oh, excellent Bella. Admit your obsession. Shoot!_

I couldn't stop smiling. It just wasn't possible. "Not as new as you are," I responded in a sing-song voice.

_His eyes dance when he smiles like that. He's being so nice to me. Wow, I never imagined that __**this**__ was waiting for me in Forks. Not that I think Edward Cullen was just sitting around, bored with life until I showed up._

Oh, Bella, how you've hit the nail on the head, I thought.

_I mean, what am I saying? He's just being nice. Everyone is trying to be nice to me today; he's no different. It's not like he's flirting with me, or something. It's not like he's interested in me._

Her thoughts shifted as Mr. Banner brought our class to its beginning, and I turned my head back toward my props, but I never shifted my body away from the lovely Bella. I knew what we were studying and paid little attention except to the fact that it was a lecture day, so we would not be working with our partners. Sad news, indeed.

_Oh, cellular anatomy. Been there, done that. Better take good notes, anyway, though._

And she did. She took excellent notes. I did not. I already had two medical degrees, and so far Mr. Banner's mind hadn't impressed me as being particularly creative or interesting. If I were able to sleep, I'd be able to take his exams while doing so. Instead, I was idly sketching while I listened to her concentrate on the lesson. She seemed to have excellent recall of what she'd learned previously on the subject, and she was constantly comparing the two, analyzing what she might have missed the first time around, wondering at little inconsistencies. It seemed that Bella was quite bright, though I wasn't surprised. That anyone as wonderful as she could be anything other than brilliant didn't seem to be in the natural order of things.

Part way through the lesson a line of melody came to me, and I didn't stop to wonder that it had been a few decades since I'd last composed. It seemed to complement her inner thought tone more than her actual voice. It was soft and gentle, but fascinating with a complex twist in the middle. It could be a lullaby, I mused, or a nocturne. Yes, a nocturne. I let the melody twist and twirl around her ongoing commentary on cellular anatomy. The complexities flourished each time she darted a little glance at me, at my sketch, which I realized belatedly was a study of her eyes, her hands, the fall of her hair, and the graceful lines of a swan.

_Wow, he didn't take any notes at all. Maybe he doesn't need to. I suppose __**I**__ didn't really have to, not this time, but oh well. He draws beautifully, though._

"You draw very well," she said at the end of class, as everyone around us began to pack up their things. I could tell that Mike Newton had his eyes on us, but I didn't pay his mind any attention.

"You think so?" I asked, quickly glancing up at her with a little half smile, before looking back down to title my page of sketches. "Well, I had suitably inspiring subject."

'the beautiful Bella Swan' is what I wrote at the bottom, before efficiently tearing the page out of my journal and laying it on top of her still open notebook.

_The beautiful Bella Swan…?_ I could hear her heartbeat race. _He thinks I'm beautiful? The beautiful boy thinks I'm __**beautiful**__? _

"May I walk you to your next class, Bella?"

_He wants to walk me to my –oh, no. Gym. Please, God, __**please**_,_ don't let the perfect, graceful boy who maybe likes me be in my gym class. Please don't do that to me, God. _She really sounded panicked.

I couldn't let her wonder. "I'm on my way to Spanish, but I'd still like to walk you to your next class, if you'll allow it."

"Oh, you don't have to," she started, shifting out of her chair and grabbing her book bag. She started to stuff it full of her things, but had to edge closer to me after she got pushed out of the aisle by our classmates wanting to leave. I slid off my lab stool and scooped up my props in one motion, leaving me standing very, very close to her. She was still babbling on. "I mean, I don't want you to go to any trouble-"

"It is no trouble, Bella," I said, interrupting her stream of words. "Quite the opposite. It would be my pleasure."

She paused in the midst of zipping up her bag to look up at me, and there it was again; the wordless vision of me standing before her, graceful and beautiful, wrapped in a haze of adoration.

_It would be his pleasure. He speaks so beautifully, so eloquently. No one else speaks like that. It's… it's so clear that… he means it. He's so wonderful,_ she concluded.

"Okay," she breathed.

I smiled. "Thank you." I shifted slightly closer to her, and it sent her mind into a delightful turmoil before she stepped away and into the aisle to leave.

_Holy Crow, he smells good! Oh, __**wow**_._ Oh my gosh, my mouth is watering._

We walked in silence out of the classroom. My name was on everyone's mind as they noticed my attention to Bella. It was like the little world of Forks High had ground to a halt. This was sure to spread like wildfire. Edward Cullen had woken up. The untouchable Edward Cullen had a crush.

"My next class gym," she offered.

"Do you need to stop at your locker, first?"

_Gym clothes! Shoot. Knew I forgot something. Well, first day and all. Hopefully the teacher will be merciful. _"Um, no. I'm fine. So, are there gym uniforms here, or is it just, you know, sport casual?"

"Uniforms," I replied. "And charming they are, too."

She laughed.

I said nothing else, but instead listened to the pleasant hum of her nebulous, wordless, impressionistic thoughts. They wrapped around me like a soft cashmere scarf. They were mostly centered on me, my proximity to her, her fervent desire to hold my hand, and her increasing confidence that I might have some smidgeon of interest in her.

_It's so nice to just be with him,_ she thought on a sigh.

I feel the same way, I thought.

We arrived at the gymnasium far too quickly for my liking. I could have strolled along with her for hours, wrapped in her thoughts.

_Oh. The gym. We're here._ "Thank you for showing me to the gym," she said, stopping and turning to face me. Her fingers were tangling themselves and untangling themselves in a loose strap that dangled from her shoulder. She was adorable. _I wonder when I'll see him again. I suppose I'll have to wait 'til lunch, tomorrow. Why does that seem so far away? But oh my gosh, it must be getting late._

"You should go – I mean," she corrected herself, "I don't want you to be late for your class."

"La senora is very forgiving," I pointed out, and mentioned nothing about the fact that we both knew which one of us could pass as a native Castilian, Argentinean, Cuban, or Peruvian, and it wasn't the one at the front of the class. I was still working on my Chilean accent and idiom, but it was next. I had forty-five more seconds until the bell rang, however, and I was going to make the most of it. I leaned against the side of the building and smiled at Bella.

"It was very nice to meet you, Bella Swan. I hope we'll have an opportunity for further conversation. I would really like to know you better."

"I'd like that," she responded. _I'd really, really like that._

"Would you like to go for a walk this evening? After dinner?"

_Oh, my god, yes! _"Sure, that'd be really nice. Um, when…" she trailed off, but I already had my journal open and was writing down my cell phone number for her. I tore out that page, too.

"Call me when you get done with dinner. I don't think I live very far from you."

And then the bell rang. Beautiful timing, really.

She looked up and around, startled out of her pleasant, wordless thoughts. "Oh! Oh my gosh, you're going to be late. Okay." She smiled again at me. "Thank you. I'll… see you this evening, then."

"This evening." I resisted the urge to take her hand and bow over it, or better yet, kiss it. Instead I turned around and walked slowly away from her, listening to her thoughts.

_Ho-ly Crow! I have a date with the most beautiful, wonderful, charming guy in the whole world._

I walked all the way to Spanish quite quickly with the lack of witnesses, but not so quickly as to seem unusual. I slid into my seat next to Emmett, still focused on her thoughts. It was harder – her thoughts really did seem to be softer and more occluded than everyone else's, and from this distance it was much more difficult to hear hers than it ought to be, but I managed to get the gist of her clearest thoughts. She was relieved that she wouldn't have to participate today, and only had to sit on the sidelines. She was thinking of me.

_EDWARD!_ I heard Emmett shout quite loudly in his thoughts. Had he been speaking? I raised one eyebrow and tilted my head toward him slightly, turning a page in the useless textbook in front of me.

_What's the dish on you and the new girl, huh? What's his face up there was saying that you've got a crush on her!_

I looked down at the text book and smiled broadly.

***

...end first part of first chapter... And, any takers? Thoughts? Comments? Counter arguments on characterization? I've had a lovely time chatting about it with my beta, but I'd love to chat with you, too. And yes, the second part of the first chapter is also finished, soon to be posted. So, review, and let me know what you think of it, eh?


	2. First Sight, part 2

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P. Because she rocks.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer, and I am grateful that she allows us all to play in the sandbox of her construction. Thank you, ma'am.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: Teen, for now. It strikes me that the way Ms. Meyer writes Edward's perspective is not necessarily nor exclusively for a teen audience, as Edward himself is inwardly about as far from a teen as one can get. But _my_ rating is teen, for now, subject to change.

**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

***

Chapter One: First Sight, part two

***

_No… No you're messing with her head, right? You're just like, really bored, right?_

My smile turned into a grin and as I gazed downward at the desk, I shook my head slightly, but significantly.

_No fuckin' way! We don't get crushes, Edward. It's part of the package – it's all or nothing, bro._

I looked ironically down at the textbook, and nodded my acknowledgment. Leave it to Emmett to put to words in an instant the very thing I would have danced around for several months.

_Nooo… shiiit! But… she's __**human**_**!**

I couldn't resist looking over at him just briefly to roll my eyes. Of course she's human. Did he think I could have possibly missed the fact that I have apparently fallen in love with a human? While I was looking at him, I gave him a significant look. He was human once, too.

_Well, okay. True. I was human when Rosalie found me, and admittedly I was not at my finest when she fell for me…_

While I was at it, I gave him another significant look. If Rosalie could fall in love with him, instantly, half dead and resembling nothing so much as dinner, then I could certainly fall in love with Bella, taking a hundred times that long while she was looking extraordinarily beautiful. I didn't see what the problem was.

_But I wasn't human for long, buddy boy. Before I knew what was going on Carlisle got me, and once I got my head out of my ass where food was concerned, I looked up into Rosie's beautiful eyes and the rest is history. She had two hours of me as a human and a year of me as a newborn. Then we had eleven years of sex. Wow, that was a good time, man…_

I kicked his chair. I was more or less used to the long mental reenactments of his private time with Rosalie, to say nothing of having to witness them first hand, but that wasn't where my mind wanted to be just now. It was utterly impossible to hear Bella over Emmett. He needed to shut the hell up.

_Right. Well. Where was I? Oh yea. She's __**human**__, Edward. She looks pretty healthy, too. You gonna wait until there's a near fatal tragedy and have Carlisle change her, or you gonna just ask him to do it now? It's gonna be weird, bro. I mean, we're going to have to move, you know? And you're going to have to explain it to her, and let's hope she doesn't take it like Rosie did. But hell – what else can we do, right? I mean, this is it. You found your mate. No taking it back, not if Carlisle's theories are right. This is the one big change in your life, bro, and an irreversible one in hers, too. Well, shit, man. That's a lot to think about. I'll leave you to it._

I was stunned. Emmett had just put into words all that I never wanted to, and my mind was blank.

_Oh, hey! Congratulations, too. It's about damn time you found your mate, Edward. Good for you._

I nodded woodenly. I'd found my mate. _**I'd found my mate**_. It had taken over eighty years – less time than Carlisle took to find Esme, but significantly longer than Rosalie or Alice took to find their mates.

But I couldn't stand the thought of Bella as anything other than exactly the way she was right now. I couldn't bear to go there right now. My mind shifted away from it, and I searched for her voice, the comfort of her mind that I just wanted to drown in.

_I wonder what kind of food Charlie has in the deep freeze. I should have checked before I left this morning. Heaven knows the only things in the refrigerator were some eggs, and the steaks I put down to defrost before I left for school. Maybe I'll go grocery shopping after school tomorrow, if that's okay. Dinner, dinner… Steak… and potatoes, if there are any. And then after dinner… Edward._

_Oh no, I guess this means I have to introduce Edward to Charlie. Wow, I really have no idea how he's going to react, _she thought, of her father. _Well, I don't suppose he'll get out his shotgun or anything. Maybe he'll be fine with it. I hope their family hasn't ever gotten into any trouble in Forks. This could be ugly with Charlie, if so. No, I'm sure it won't be a problem. They all seem so quiet and reserved. Besides, Edward is… well, even Charlie is going to be able to see how kind and gentle Edward is._

I smiled again, relaxing. La senora called on me, and I picked the answer out of her head, adjusted for familiarity and dialect and gave back my flawless version. And… yes, that would be the last time she called on me this week. She thought I was showing off. Actually, I just didn't want to be her guinea pig, which I could tell is what she really wanted. I'd rather intimidate her than be her favorite.

We had to dumb it down in gym for obvious reasons, and painful though it was, I could see the logic of it. College athletic recruiters were notorious for their tenacity, and they remembered names as well as they remembered faces, and they remembered faces a very long time, for humans. College academic recruiters, however, really didn't give two bits, and remembered nothing. In gym, therefore, I would tone it down, but nowhere else. High school had always been boring enough without having to pretend to be an utter idiot.

I smiled. High school seemed significantly less boring, now.

Spanish floated by, but I was none the wiser, being cradled in the gentle sway of Bella's thoughts. She really hated gym. She imagined herself so clumsy as to be nearly disabled. I almost laughed at the thought. She wondered what I was like, what it was like to grow up as an adopted child, but with two loving, responsible parents. It made me wonder what her parents were like, and what it was like to only have one of them at available at a time. I couldn't actually remember my own childhood, of course, not even tiny fragments of memories. I remember vaguely wanting to be a soldier, and I remember what Carlisle has told me.

Carlisle. Esme. Esme was going to be over the moon. She'd wondered if I'd been changed too young – not a child vampire, but not quite an adult, either. But maybe too young to be able to have a mate. Not, apparently, the case! Esme, sweet Esme, the only mother I ever really remember having, for all that she is younger than I, Esme could finally be at peace about this.

And then the bell rang, and I was gone before it stopped ringing. I could hear Emmett laughing behind me, but I didn't care as I walked back to the gym to be at the door before she could leave. It was close – she was the first one out, directly after the bell, as she didn't have to change. I was leaning against the building right where I'd left her an hour ago, when she turned and saw me.

_Oh! _"Hi."

I quirked my lips into a half smile and responded in turn. "Hi."

_Oh, that crooked smile. Yes, please. _"You have a fascination with the gym, or something?" _Or me, maybe? I don't suppose… you maybe might be fascinated with me?_

"Or something," I said. It was getting harder to respond simply to what she said, and not the combination of what she said _and_ thought. I'd really have to watch myself. "Really, I just couldn't wait until tonight, not when you were only a building away. Forgive my impertinence, and let me walk you to your locker?"

"Sure. Um, but I have to go to the main office." She brandished the sheet of paper all of her teachers had signed throughout the day.

"Of course. Shall we?"

It was too soon to hold her hand. That's what I told myself, and that's what I kept repeating to myself. I'd only just met her two hours ago, and it was too soon to hold her hand. Tonight. I could hold her hand tonight. Maybe. At the end of the night, just before I said goodbye.

The thought of saying goodbye at all was crushing. I tried not to think of it and instead dived in her thoughts, amorphous and soothing, which is why I suppose I didn't see Eric approaching with his camera, until I heard the click.

_Oh, no. Oh, this is my nightmare._

"That was great! A great candid – can we just get one more?"

We stopped in our tracks, and while I wasn't pleased that Bella seemed to think this was a waking nightmare, I had to admit that I didn't mind the idea of having of photograph of the two of us together. Since she didn't seem naturally amenable to the idea, I decided to play dirty.

I shifted my stance so that I was facing her, and her face slowly followed my movements. I was closer now than I had been before, and I bent down, toward her. She looked up. Our bodies were angled all wrong, but they were very close to one another. Our faces even closer.

"Come on, Bella," I said to her in my most reasonable tone. It was the voice I used with humans when I wanted to get my way. I smiled, and felt it go all the way to my eyes. I leaned in just a little more and breathed on her. I really was playing dirty. I saw her eyes glaze over and I watched her dazed fantasy of the two of us kissing. Sweet Bella, soon. Soon.

She opened her mouth as if to gasp, and then exhaled gently. In turn, I parted my lips and breathed in her scent and almost closed my eyes in pleasure. "Take your picture, Eric," I murmured, and heard the click of the camera only moments later. I'd have to pull him aside tomorrow morning and ask for a copy. This one gets framed.

"Whoh. That was like, the best picture I've ever taken. Thanks, man. I owe you one."

Yes, yes you do. And I'll have you pay up, tomorrow.

Bella blinked and shook her head, almost imperceptibly as I leaned back and stood away.

_You… Did… How…_ Her eyes narrowed. "You tricked me."

I smiled. "Tricked you? That's a little harsh, I think." I held open the door of the main office for her and watched her awkwardness as she went through it. She wasn't used to having doors held for her. She'd get used to it, in time. I continued on without missing a beat in our conversation, however. "I simply asked you very nicely to reconsider your position, and with great grace you acquiesced. And Eric got a beautiful photograph of the two of us. That's all."

She was confused. There was something wrong with what I had said, but I couldn't place it. "No. That's… I mean, you said – what you said wasn't… Oh, never mind." But her thoughts continued on where her eloquence had escaped her. _Reconsider my position? What position? I didn't say anything! What position was I supposed to be reconsidering when chess club Eric sneaks up on me and takes a picture without asking permission and before I know it the Beautiful Edward Cullen moves in, dazzles me into a puddle of goo and acts like he's going to kiss me! Reconsider what? _

She continued on, but I internally recoiled. Stupid, Edward, very stupid. She didn't _say_ she didn't want her picture taken, she only thought it. I mentally kicked myself. This was just the sort of thing I shouldn't be doing. I should be more diligent than this. But then again… she was my mate. She was going to find out about all of my abilities sooner or later.

I held the door open for her again and looked down at her as she scowled into the ground. "Bella," I called to her sweetly and her eyes reluctantly were drawn back to mine as we continued on our way. "Don't be upset with me. I was excited about the thought of a photograph of the two of us. I couldn't resist."

She sighed and thought, _Stupid, beautiful, totally charming boy. Don't think you can always get your way, just because you're wonderful. _"It's fine," she said, and I could tell that she meant it. I was forgiven.

It was a good feeling.

We walked in silence to her locker. It was down the hall and on the opposite side as mine. I held her bag for her as she took a mental tally of which books she would need for this evening. The thoughts swirling around us were some measure stunned, some measure vitriolic, but such was the student body. I ignored them, as they really didn't matter at all. When she was finished, I zipped up her bag and slid it back on her shoulders, without my fingers so much as grazing her shirt.

"Do you have a ride home?" I asked. My brothers and sisters could run home. Rosalie wouldn't like how it looked, but I really didn't give a damn.

She pictured the disturbingly old red truck in the parking lot with fondness. "Yea, my dad got me a truck." I marshaled my features, but didn't have it in my to smile. It was a death trap. No airbags, only basic restraint. Admittedly it was sturdy, but it was also probably on the verge of utter collapse. I bet she didn't have a cell phone in case of emergency, either. I wonder how quickly she would accept a new car as a present. Next week would probably be too soon. Could I get away with picking her up tomorrow morning? Probably not. Shit. _Shit. _

_Oh, wow. I wonder what's eating him. Surely he can't be upset that I don't need a ride, can he? Well, he's going to have to learn sooner or later that I value my independence. _

Duly noted, love. I still think you riding around in a death trap is not the best idea in the world. I'd rather you drive around, complete in your independence, in a car with the highest possible safety rating.

_But that's silly. It's probably something else. He wouldn't be able to offer me a ride, anyway, what with all his sisters and brothers. And him being the youngest, it's probably not his car, even if they take two._

Okay, I could smile at that. I'd have to think about an excuse to drive her back and forth to school from now on. I couldn't risk damaging her car, though, not until I had her permission to replace it. I doubt it was in her father's budget to have the old Chevy fixed if I did some damage to it.

Hm. Rosalie. There's an idea that probably won't come to fruition…

We walked outside, and this time it wasn't just the thoughts of the student body that were all trained on us, but I could hear them murmuring, and so could Bella. This would never do.

_Oh, great. Just great. Before they were all staring at me, but now they're whispering, too. I guess what Jessica said was true, about Edward never dating before. And he is, bar none, the most beautiful boy in school, even among his brothers who are also stunning. I thought that maybe she'd been exaggerating. But good heavens, why wouldn't he date? He could have anyone he wanted. And probably will, as soon as he figures out how incredibly dull I really am. _

I heard her sigh as we walked toward the parking lot. I noticed that my brothers and sisters were waiting for me at the car, but I made no motion to join them. I would walk Bella to her car and see if I couldn't reassure her.

She never mentioned the fact that everyone was whispering, so I didn't bring it up either, and when we'd gotten to her truck in relative silence, she didn't move to open the driver's side door just yet, but I noticed that she'd locked it. She stopped and unslung her backpack to dig out her key from the front pocket.

"Thanks. You know, for walking me to my car, and everything." I heard her mental whine follow just after her words. _I don't want to go. Everyone's staring though, and it looks like his family is waiting for him. Good Lord, is __**that**__ their car? No, wait, of course they have both looks __**and**__ money. But that's pretty much how the world works, or so I've noticed. And hey, I didn't this notice before – they don't dress ostentatiously – but their clothes definitely hint of designer origins. Great. One more strike against me – working class, through and through. I wonder if his parents are going to be against this. Then again, his parents let their foster children date each other, so maybe they have different standards. _She started to wonder vaguely what that must be like at our house after lights out, but I didn't want to keep her waiting with too much silence as I listened intently to her very amusing thoughts.

It was difficult to answer her spoken words and not her thoughts, but I did anyway. "Thank _you._ This has been the most pleasant, interesting day of my high school career, which really, seems to have dragged on much longer than just three years. I look forward to your call, tonight. You won't forget?" If she lost her nerve and refused to call, I'd be climbing the walls.

She smiled at me then, and I felt relieved. "I won't forget." _I'll have no idea what to say, but no, I won't forget. If I got hit by a truck on the way home and suffered from amnesia, I still wouldn't be able to forget you._

Did she have to mention getting into a car accident? Maybe I should follow her home, out of sight, just to make sure she gets there okay. No, no, that might scare her and make matters worse. Hm. I'll just run by and check on her, maybe, if I can get away from Esme.

If.

Maybe I'll have Alice look into it, instead.

I watched her get into the cab of her ancient truck and resisted the urge to touch the window of her door, just where I could see the delicate curve of her cheekbone. I took a deep breath instead and walked away, back to my car. Rosalie was scowling, and obviously no one was arguing the shotgun position with her, though we were fairly certain the only one to actually bear a shotgun while sitting in the front passenger seat of a motor vehicle was Emmett, and that when he'd been human. I ignored Rosalie, which was my plan, and I hoped to follow it for as long as it was feasible. The others I didn't care to ignore. Alice was bouncing on her toes, Jasper was grinning – all sense of his earlier struggle gone from his features – and Emmett high-fived me (gently, so as to avoid a scene and the sound of two boulders crashing together) as I passed him on my way to the driver's side door.

Everyone got in the car but me. I turned around and leaned against the door, watching her pull out of the parking space ever so carefully. I caught her eye as she passed, driving very slowly through the lot. The farther away she got, the more difficult it was to hear, until even though I strained, it was for naught. By the time she was 120 feet away, there was nothing but silence from the cab of her truck. Strange.

I got in my Volvo and started the engine. It purred – a far cry from the dull roar of Bella's ancient Chevy. I think that truck might actually be older than Alice and Jasper's marriage.

Everyone in the car was silent, verbally, but dear god their thoughts were running rampant, and with no Bella around in which to sink, I was at their mercy.

_What does he think he's __**doing?!? Of all the stupid, idiotic, moronic, asinine…**_Rosalie was furious.

_That's my boy! I always knew he'd come around. Aw, yea! Edward's got a girl, finally! And what a sweetheart. She's going to make an awesome sister._ Ah, Emmett. Never thinks anything he wouldn't mind saying, if only he could get a word in edgewise.

Alice was humming to herself, flipping through Bella's near future. Doing homework, cooking steaks, staring at my number, the two of us walking along the road, sitting on her front porch, sleeping in her room with me in the forest outside her home, me at the piano, tomorrow, the next day, the next, the next. Alice just kept going, flipping through the images, like dexterous fingers flipping through a card index. Day after day, nothing disastrous, no car accident, no accidental death of the human who now meant everything to me, just her – peaceful, calm, beautiful.

Jasper was the most surprising of all. His thoughts were a calm lull, amorphous and gentle with the particular timbre they took when he was alone with Alice. There was no hint of the burning thirst and accompanying thoughts that had been there for the last four days, the thirst which almost met the tipping point today at lunch with little Whitney, the thirst which had probably kept Alice completely focused on him the entire day.

_Edward – if you're listening. Thank you,_ thought Jasper.

I twitched my head over to one side just slightly, to show him that I was listening. My eyes fell on the radio, so I reached out and skipped over the song that was currently playing to get to the next track.

_Thank you. You have no idea how much easier it is to… to __**deal**__ with it when I'm surrounded by people who are broadcasting joy as strongly as you are right now. And your joy is reflected and magnified by Emmett and Alice. Yes, there's Rosalie, but, well, Rosalie's rage isn't as deep as you'd imagine, though she's really quite pissed off. But thank you._

I could feel Jasper's own joy flood the car, and even Rosalie calmed slightly, now only glaring out the window, her fingernails tapping against her jean-clad thigh.

We were home before long and I pulled the car in between the Rose's Z3 and my Vanquish in the garage building out behind the house.

"I call telling Esme!" Emmett shouted as he sprang from the car and sprinted to the house. I didn't have it in me not to grin. I couldn't help it.

"Tell me what?" we all heard Esme respond calmly from her second floor office. We could hear her get up from her flooring samples – she was redecorating the house in Connecticut, again – and walk down stairs to meet us in the living room as we all came home from school. It struck me in that moment as an odd parody of a 1950's stereotypical home life, only with vampires. I shrugged it off. Esme beat out June Cleaver any day of the week, and twice on Sunday.

When we were all inside, our props neatly stowed on a shelf by the door, dormant until we needed to complete homework assignments for tomorrow, Emmett crowed out in happiness. "Edward's got a girlfriend!"

Alice laughed and pulled Jasper into a waltz near the piano and they swept around the room, both laughing. Rosalie had her arms folded across her chest as she glared at nothing. Esme's eyes grew round as she slowly walked toward me, her arms held out, her hands reaching for my face.

"Edward, is it true?" she whispered, not daring to hope, not daring to smile. _Have you really found your mate, you sweet boy? Have you bonded with someone, finally? Are you whole, now?_

She stood before me now, holding the sides of my face gently in her warm, soft hands. She looked deeply into my eyes and I realized just how much it meant to her, how much it meant to the family that I'd been so alone for so long, entering into deeper isolation, experiencing more profound apathy. I really… I hadn't realized. Or maybe they worked to keep it from me. They did that, sometimes, but usually without much success.

I smiled again. I seemed to be doing that a lot, since lunch. I smiled, and I felt my face transform to display the joy I felt.

"Her name is Bella," I said softly, slowly, letting the words, letting her name curl around my tongue.

_**God bless Bella!**_ Esme cried out in the happiness of her thoughts as she threw her arms around me and held me closely. _Oh, Edward! I'm so happy for you! Are you going to tell Carlisle? You should tell Carlisle. He'd want to know. Call him. You need to go call him, right now. Go. Shoo,_ she thought releasing me. _You can tell us all about it when he comes home – it should only be a few more hours, now. Oh, I can't wait! I wonder what her favorite colors are. Hm. This could change everything in Connecticut. Well, enough time for that later. Oh, Edward, this is wonderful!_

"I don't see why everyone is so deliriously happy that Edward chose a healthy, human girl to fall in love with." _Are you just going to kill her, Edward? Is it that easy for you, to subject someone you love to this half-life we lead? Forever stuck in high school, never growing old, never able to leave our mark on the world, never to have children or grandchildren – no legacy, no trace, no one who remembers us fondly at all? Forever the ghosts, hidden in the shadow of society, doomed with the desire to __**cannibalize**__ that which we once were? How __**could**__ you, Edward? How could you be so selfish? __**How could you?**_

I looked down, my eyes glazed over, not really seeing the floor. Rosalie's rants had never really affected me before, but Emmett wasn't the only one who was able to speak directly to the heart of the matter.

It felt hollow inside. The joy was gone. I didn't notice Alice and Jasper stop moving, but I heard his gasp, vaguely in the background of my sudden misery. I don't know how I was able to form the words that eventually whispered from my lips. It was like someone else was saying them, not me.

"I would never force her."

I spoke so slowly, so softly, no inflection in my tone at all.

"It would be her choice."

All of my deepest fears about who we were, ontologically, existentially, and most importantly, theologically, rose to the surface, now that there was no joy to keep them at bay. It _would_ have to be her choice, because honestly, I wasn't certain… I wasn't entirely convinced that Carlisle's philosophy bridged the gap between myself and the God I secretly believed might actually exist. Honestly, I wasn't sure there could be a bridge over that gap.

If anything, it was Bella that might convince me in the end. Honestly, if she could love me, perhaps that was proof that God hadn't utterly forsaken me, as I had always supposed.

But it would have to be her choice. Utterly her choice. She would have to know everything, every bit, know it and accept it, choose it. I prayed that there would be no sudden accident, something that would take her too soon, something that would force my hand, because I would live in regret for the rest of eternity, because, well… I could be wrong. I could be wrong about God. I could really be forsaken. And I would rather know her, love her, and allow her humanity to run its course, knowing that it was her choice that it do so, I would rather live with the consequences of that, than doom her against her wishes to a life she loathed and feared.

"Oh, sure, Edward. You say that now, but what if she chooses to remain human? Hm? Are you going to be content when she looks every bit 45, and you could still pass for 15? What about when you have to go out in public, pretending she's your grandmother? Your great grandmother? Hm? What if she wants children, Edward? God, what if she wants to have _sex_, Edward? Hm? Think you're going to be able to do that without _killing her?_ What's in a vampire's ejaculate, anyway? Do any of us actually know? Venom, I'd be willing to bet. You're not even going to be able to kiss her. She wants to stay human, maybe, and you say okay, but how are you going to work the logistics on _that one, _Edward? How are you going to maintain a healthy bond, a healthy relationship, if you can't give her anything she needs?"

"I would never choose for her. And…" Oh, it hurt so much to say. "The moment she wanted me gone, I would be gone." Just imagining it felt like being torn apart from the inside out. It just _hurt._

"_That's __**enough!**_" Esme's voice was overloud in the space and rang in my ears.

"Rosalie…" Esme took a deep breath and controlled her tone. Still, her words were precise, and clipped. I took refuge in them, all the same. "Edward has found his mate. She is now your sister. Whether she remains human or becomes in due time, a vampire, changes nothing. Your brother has found a mate. It is involuntary. It is mutual. And it is permanent. Just like you and Emmett. Just like Alice and Jasper. Just like Carlisle and myself. There is no hurt in the world that she can endure that Edward cannot sooth. There is no pain in the world that Edward can feel that she cannot understand. If she finds her future hard to bear, it will be Edward and no _one_ else, no_thing_ else that will make it bearable for her. It will be Edward and Edward alone that will make life worth living, if it comes to that, because they are mates. You _know_ this, Rosalie, as much as any of us do." _If not more so, _she finished in her thoughts.

Rosalie sighed and hung her head. She walked very slowly to where Emmett was standing, the stiletto heels clicking against the hard wood of the living room floor. As she passed him, facing away from us, she reached out and put her hand in his. She stopped there. She held it.

_Her choice? You promise?_ She asked. She sounded broken.

"I promise," I whispered.

_You really will be the only thing to make her life worth living, in the dark times, Edward. She… I don't think she'll be able to resent you. No matter what._

_So be it, _she thought. I could hear her take another deep breath.

"So be it," she said aloud, her voice stony, the armor raised once more. And then she walked away from us, back out to the garage.

There was silence for a long space of time, after that. We simply stood there. Eventually I could feel Jasper gently lifting the mood, coaxing it back up again, back to a baseline of normal. Except, my baseline had changed, somehow, and even Rosalie and her worst case scenario couldn't alter the fact that my new baseline was a much pleasanter place to be.

Bella. I thought of her chocolate brown eyes, the soft, soothing comfort of her thoughts, her compassion for others, her adoration of me. I thought of her. I let myself fall into it. I adored her, from afar. I could feel it with my whole body, and I held onto the feeling.

I smiled, again. I could hear her melody, the one that curved and swirled around the tenor of her thoughts and I wanted to sit down at my piano. I needed to. But I needed to call Carlisle first.

I pulled out the little silver cell phone and pressed and held the 2 key. He was able to pick up immediately. He must have been in his office.

He gave no greeting, he never did when one of us called him, just in case.

"I, I have good news, Carlisle," I said, and I knew he would be able to hear the smile in my voice. "I…" I hadn't yet put it into words. It was harder than I thought. I really had given up any image of myself finding someone else to share eternity with they way the rest of my family had. But I did. I found her. I found my mate. _I found my mate! _"I found my mate."

I heard Carlisle's gasp. "Edward," he whispered, stunned. "That's wonderful!" he crowed, only a moment later, much louder, and clearly overjoyed.

There was noise in the background. Clearly Carlisle wasn't in this office like I'd thought. I could hear him as he took his mouth from the microphone and explained to his audience. "My youngest son just got early acceptance into Dartmouth! I have to go home and celebrate! Goodbye, everyone!"

_Hm. Excellent,_ Esme mused as she wandered back up the stairs to tidy her office. She never liked to leave it in a state of disarray, if she could help it.

Alice and Jasper walked hand in hand out the front door and disappeared. I had every faith that they would be back in fourteen minutes when Carlisle walked in the front door.

_Rock on, Edward,_ Emmett thought, as he wandered out the door, towards the garage.

I, for my part, went to my piano. I touched the keys as gently, as lovingly as I would touch the fragile skin of her face. This would be how I would know what pressure to use, when I did touch her skin. I could trace her jaw with the force of a _pianissimo_. I would hold her hand with the gentleness of a _piano_. I would hold her body against mine, embracing her with no more exertion than I would elicit to coax a _mezzoforte_ from her nocturne.

And so I played. I started with the simplicity of the earliest melody that had been dancing in my head all afternoon. Then I layered the harmony in, a soothing bass that complemented the higher tones. I smiled as I remembered her little glances at me, the thrill I would feel, her racing heartbeat that pounded steadily in my ears, and the melody began to pick up complexities, and variations on the theme. I played steadily. It was unfinished, only a first rough effort, the creative outpouring of a newborn love only hours old, and yet this was the melody that would be the basis of a much larger work. Perhaps a symphony. Perhaps several.

I smiled.

There was time.

***

End Chapter One. And... what say you? Worth continuing? I'm interested in your opinion, so why don't you go ahead and share it with me?


	3. Open Book, part 1

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P. To whom goes much love. And WD-40, fascinating because it's so freaky.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephanie Meyer, and I am grateful that she allows us all to play in the sandbox of her construction. Thank you, ma'am.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: Teen, for now.  
**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

**Author's Note: **The editor quoted by Bella in her introduction to Romeo & Juliet is Peter Alexander, whose views were accurately quoted in this fic. His edited version of Tragedies by William Shakespeare can be found published by Collins of London & Glasgow, the third of four volumes published in 1958.

***

Chapter 2: Open Book

***

I heard the door open, I heard their thoughts as they gathered. Esme in particular was happy that I was playing again. She saw it as the clearing of the symptoms of an illness, once the illness itself has begun to fade away. They were all around me now, but my fingers still caressed the keys, playing with the melody line with the patience born of knowing that I would have all the time I needed to work it out.

When finally the notes fell silent, fading into the stillness of the house, Carlisle spoke for the benefit of all.

"Tell us about her."

"Bella Swan," I said, and the answering image that greeted me in all the heads of my family was all along a theme. Charlie Swan's daughter. Formerly of Arizona. Coming here to live. Seventeen years old, and perfect for Edward.

"I don't know much more than you do," I added. "But she is wonderful. She has an original and entrancing mind. And she feels the same way about me as I do her."

"I can attest to that," said Jasper.

They all stood entirely still, a half circle around my piano as I sat at the bench, my hands still hovering over the keys. I could keep that position for days and not be tired, but I moved my hands. It was best not to foster the bad habit of looking inhuman, given that I wanted to blend in more than ever now – being in love with Bella meant interacting with a great variety of humans – her friends, her father, people who would see us out together.

"She drives an absolutely revolting truck," Rosalie remarked. It was true. And I still had no solid plan that I thought Bella might accept. I'd give it more time. Something would come up.

Carlisle laughed. He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "Congratulations, Edward. I'm so happy for you. What will you do now?"

I knew what he was asking. At least, I think I did. Carlisle was actually quite good at training his thoughts. His mind was the least tangential in the house.

I took a fraction of a second to consider my answer, remembering the promise I'd made to Rosalie. "I need to get to know her, and her me. I don't know yet whether I should tell her about us, or let her figure it out for herself. She seems quite perceptive." I remembered how quickly she saw through Jessica, and how she had unconsciously seen through my answering of her thoughts. "I would rather she know sooner than later, though." I glanced at Rosalie, then back to the keyboard. "It is her decision, to be changed, or not. But I don't want to rush her."

"Just after her graduation seems like a logical time, if you don't have any plans to hurry," Esme murmured. "It's a time of transition anyway, and her moving away wouldn't be remarked upon."

"Heh," said Emmett. "And you'd still be the youngest."

Esme said nothing, but came toward me and ran her fingers through my hair. I could feel her press a kiss against the top of my head. "What is she like?"

"She's very pretty," I said, going for understatement. "She has long brown hair and big brown eyes. The top of her head comes to the bottom of my chin. She's a little clumsy. She's compassionate, and independent." I smiled, remembering her thoughts on the subject. And she loves me, I didn't add. She wants to hold my hand. I saw her fantasize about kissing me, and it looked like a really good idea. "She's agreed to go for a walk with me after her dinner tonight." I smiled wider.

"What about your thirst? You haven't had anything in two weeks, Edward."

My smile faded as I remembered what it was like to be with her. It was easier with her. It was just easier to bear the thirst, with her. It was as if she wrapped me in the shield of herself. It was easier to ignore the distraction of other people's minds with her as well, once I got used to it. I knew this wasn't true for everyone – Alice would give almost anything to have that effect on Jasper, for instance.

"There's something about her, about her mind. When I listen to her sometimes, it's like I'm in her head and away from mine. It's easier to block out what I don't want to deal with – like other people's voices, and even to an extent, the thirst."

"You've never noticed that with anyone else?" Carlisle asked.

"No," I answered. Of course, Bella's were the only thoughts I'd ever wanted to wrap around myself like a blanket. I did try to keep my distance from other people's mindscapes, even when I was looking for information, or when we were in dialogue. I would look, observe, search, monitor – all of this was endlessly familiar, and indeed before now I'd never been able to escape it. Never before had I wanted to immerse myself though, and never had I found rest in doing so. The thought of even attempting it with someone other than Bella was more revolting than having to force down the occasional bite of prepared food.

"What are you going to do about sex, Edward?" Rosalie asked.

I looked up at her and glared. "I haven't even so much as held her hand, yet. Don't you think you're rushing it?"

"Alright, that's fine. Avoid the question. But these are different times, Bella is of a different generation than you and me. I think you need to be clear with yourself about what your expectations are, because it's going to come up, and sooner than you'll want it to, I'd bet."

"Really? What do you think," Emmett started, "two weeks before she's pushing him beyond where he wants to go?"

"I give her six weeks," Jasper said.

"Oh, no. I give her four days before she starts pushing Edward's boundaries," Rosalie commented.

We all looked to Alice. He eyes were glazed over and she was flipping through the visions just fast enough that I couldn't get a hold on them – but I knew she could. She came back to us, smiling her pixie smile.

"You really do need to figure out what you can handle and decide how far you're willing to go," she said. _And I think we should find out what __**is**__ in vampire ejaculate. I wonder if Kate has any insight on this. Not that I'd tell her, Edward. You know I wouldn't._

I looked over at Carlisle and raised an eyebrow. If he had any insight into vampire-human relations outside of the food chain, now was the time.

"Be gentle, and talk to her."

That's it? That was his advice?

"You can read her mind, Edward," he continued on. "But she can't read yours. She is young, and she may not have had many experiences with matters of the heart."

Oh, like I have.

"Yea, and Edward's so knowledgeable about that sort of thing," Emmett pointed out.

"Matters of the head, I understand." I said, leaving unsaid that I had no idea what I was doing when it came to matters of the heart. Except that I didn't want to be here for much longer – I wanted to be outside her house, wrapped in her thoughts, waiting for her call.

"But Edward," Esme said, "you can't _understand_ matters of the heart. That's the point. If you could understand them, they would be in your head, not your heart. You can only _experience_ matters of the heart, and grow from your experience. Thinking about it won't gain you the experience of being with her."

"He still needs to figure out what he wants," Rosalie asserted.

"I want everything," I said softly. At least, I thought I did. I certainly wanted everything there was to have with Bella, whatever that ended up looking like.

"All at once?" Rosalie said.

"No, of course not," I responded. If I could blush, this might have been a moment for it. Such was my embarrassment, for I did wish I could have everything right now, even though I had no idea what the complete list of everything might include. My list contained a desire that she knew already what I was, what I could do and that she had already accepted it. But I knew that Rosalie meant sex, and so I answered honestly the question she was really asking.

We were all very open with the realities of our existence in our family – there could be no lasting secrets. Still, I suppose I had a lingering holdover from the time of my humanity, and I couldn't actually imagine a world in which I would have sex with someone not my wife. It had been a purely theoretical thought before, absolutely academic with no practical bearing on my life as I lived it, but now, of course… Now it seemed to be the question of the hour.

I hadn't ever taken an opportunity to fantasize about someone, sexually. Given what I know about human nature, I think it unlikely I made it to the age of seventeen without doing so – without fantasizing, without experiencing erections, without masturbating, even – but I have absolutely no memory of it. Statistically it was impossible for me to have avoided it as a human, but that experience was as far from me as if it had occurred to someone else, someone I never knew, someone who was less than a footnote in history. In the last eighty years as a vampire, I knew with the certain clarity of perfect recall that I had never, not once, desired to have sex with someone, much less imagined myself doing do. Never.

Unless… Unless that's what I felt today, the curling in the pit of my stomach, the deep pleasure I felt at taking in her scent, the first strange awakenings of a desire that I understood, theoretically, to be nearly as strong as our thirst.

But I had no proof of that, as yet. I shied away from the thought of it.

My lingering human ideals insisted on a lack of sex until marriage. My intelligence insisted on a lack of sex at all, until such time as she might accept the invulnerability that our life offered. But certainly, this was not going to be such an issue? I had lived 80 years without sex and it had been no trouble at all. What was a few more years, or even another entire human lifetime without sex? Or the rest of my existence, come to think of it – if it happened that I never had sex with Bella, I really couldn't fathom who, after her death, I might _want_ to have sex with.

But, oh god, it felt like someone had torn my heart out, thinking of her death, thinking of a life without her.

I felt Jasper flood me with relief, with assurance. My eyes flicked up to his, grateful.

"I look forward to revisiting this conversation next month," Rosalie said, one eyebrow raised, a smirk twisting her lips.

I shrugged. I couldn't know what experiences this month would bring. I was completely jarred out of the monotony and boredom of my life and I anticipated that nothing would be quite as I expected it to be, but I wasn't going to complain about it.

It was not yet four in the afternoon, but I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to be closer to her. I needed to be within the range of her thoughts. Normally I could hear someone up to nearly five miles away, if I concentrated, but I couldn't even hear Bella from one side of the school's campus to the other.

"Well if that's all?" I asked looking around taking in the expression of each.

_Anxious to be with her, aren't you? That's a good sign,_ thought Rosalie, eyebrow still arched.

_For now, _Emmett chuckled internally.

_Congratulations, again, Edward,_ thought Jasper.

_Go get her, Tiger! _Alice thought, giving me a knowing look.

_I couldn't be happier or more pleased for you, Edward,_ Carlisle thought.

_Bring her back to meet us soon, Edward. I'm not sure I can stand the suspense, as it is, _thought Esme.

"Thank you," I responded to all of them, before leaving the house and taking to the forest.

I stopped only a step or two in to take a deep breath, to take in all of the scents – the earth, the trees, the scent of motor oil and small forest animals, the scent of my family so close by. Then I ran.

I had thought, all throughout the last eighty-odd years of my existence, that my only true, sustainable, dependable, and absolutely reliable joy in life was running. I could run forever and never lose the joy of it. I loved going fast, and running was the fastest I could go. I could run faster than anyone in my family. I could run faster than newborn vampires. I could run faster than my Vanquish could drive. I could run faster than a commercial airliner could fly. I had never, to my knowledge, broken the speed of sound, but I think I could come close. And even running as I was, thrilling to the experience, I looked forward to an even greater joy, now – the presence of Bella's mind.

And then I was there, five feet in from the forest edge, the closest I would go to her until she called. At that point I would run back home and drive over to maintain the façade, at least for the moment, and certainly for her father.

_Now, what shall I read? I could reread Wuthering Heights. It's a good one, and we're reading it in class… but you know, I'm feeling more like Romeo and Juliet just now. Hm. Or I could do that math homework. Ugh. I really don't like Trig, and I don't see its purpose in my life. Well, it's now or later, and maybe Edward and I will get to talking, so maybe there won't be much of a later to be had. _I heard her sigh. _Trig it is._

Her thoughts were a gentle caress as I listened to her spread her math supplies across the kitchen table and start her homework. As she started, I could hear her confusion as she read the instructions for tonight's assignment. She understood the words on the page, she understood the numbers and letters, but the minute she tried to wrap her mind around the concepts her thoughts went fuzzy and confused again.

She really _didn't_ get Trigonometry.

Her thoughts were like slippery fish; she was unable to quite get a grip on them before they slipped away again. I wanted to join her, to try to explain. I knew she was capable of understanding. I wondered how soon we could start studying together. Tomorrow might be too soon.

It was just over an hour later that the phone rang, jarring her out of her thoughts.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Bella? It's Dad. Um… Yea. I forgot to say this morning – about dinner. I'll be home in about a half an hour, and your choices are bacon & eggs, the diner, or I can grab some pizza on the way home, I guess."

_Not much has changed, then, _I heard her think, but not unkindly._ I guess I'll do the cooking._

"Bacon and eggs is fine, Dad. I'll see you then."

"Yea, okay. Well, bye."

"Bye."

She hung up the phone then, and I heard her walk around the kitchen, opening cupboards and closing them again, and finally opening the refrigerator and the freezer. She wasn't overly enthusiastic about what she found.

"Huh," she muttered to herself. She sat down again, took out a fresh piece of notebook paper and started making a basic grocery list on one side, and listed dinner ideas on the other side. Tomorrow night was tentatively steak, if she could find some at the right price. She hoped to work Charlie up to enchiladas, but she didn't want to spring it on him too quickly. Her mother, apparently, had never been the most reliable cook and had left scars on the police chief's psyche, as well as palate.

Bella was used to cooking, too. She had done most of the cooking when in Arizona. And the grocery shopping – that was an old, familiar task to her as well. I wondered about that. I couldn't be absolutely certain, of course, because I was largely bored with the human minds around me and had been trying to tune them out for the last forty years with only minimum success (though I will admit that the sixties - a decade of wide-spread psychotropic drug use - did amuse me, slightly), but I was fairly sure that most teens weren't as responsible as Bella. I couldn't think of any of the juniors at Forks High who were responsible for their household's meal planning, grocery shopping, or daily dinner preparation as a regular part of their chores. Mowing the lawn, taking out the garbage, cleaning the house – yes, these were all vaguely familiar things I recall being complained about. Feeding the family, however, was generally thought of as a parental responsibility.

Interesting.

She quickly finished making her list, then folded it up and put it in her back pocket, returning to Trigonometry. She rushed through it, tired of it, but it was interesting to me that she made fewer mistakes when she stopped over-thinking the problems. I was right – she would be able to understand. She just needed the right teacher.

I listened to her stuff her math notebook back into her bag and check her planner to double check what she had to do tonight, but I remembered seeing it earlier, at her locker. There was nothing else for her to do. She could read now, if she liked.

I listened to her take her things upstairs and drop her bag in a room. I circled the house, staying in the forest to be closest to that room. There was a window there, at the back of the house. It must be her bedroom. I scaled the tree nearest me a few feet up, but I couldn't see into the room. I jumped lightly two trees closer and one tree over before I could see properly. It was a very small room, and I could see into the hallway, through her window. The angle was all wrong to be able to see anything of use, but I stayed there, standing on a tree branch fourteen feet off the ground. I was confident that should she look out her window, or should someone pass by the street and look over I would remain unseen.

I listened as her thoughts ranged over the little shelf with the even smaller selection of books. She thought again of visiting the library in town. She selected the slim volume of Shakespearean tragedies and flipped it open quite easily to the editor's introduction of Romeo and Juliet. She turned on her bedside lamp and lay down on her stomach. I could see her besocked feet, crossed at the ankles gently swaying back and forth.

She was teasing herself with the introduction. She really wanted to get on to the beginning chorus, but she made herself read the editor's commentary. She was impatient, but she did it anyway. Here she kept skipping lines, and then going back and rereading, though none of it peaked her interest, until she got to the end.

_Many commentators have criticized the play as not conforming to the pattern to which they insist a dramatist must cut his tragedy. Where, they ask, is the tragic flaw?_ She read and reread that when she thought about the editor's own view: the idea of two people falling in love at first sight was not convincing as a tragic flaw, nor was the commonly held alternative of generalizing the tragic flaw to the feud between the families.

_So it's not a tragedy then. It's just bad timing. A second earlier for Juliet or later for Romeo and they'd be living happily ever after, somewhere far away from Verona._

And then she thought of me. She imagined that Charlie would dislike my family, and mine hers. She remembered seeing me through the windows of the cafeteria before I had even entered the room. She remembered being taken with me at first sight. I mentally wallowed in her mind, letting my senses fill up on her fantasies of meeting me secretly. We met at school, at a library that was far larger than the small one I knew Forks to boast. We spent time together at her house before her father came home – and that was an idea that had merit, I thought. I saw us doing homework together at the kitchen table, and I saw a vision of her kitchen, entirely non-descript except for some rather out-of-place yellow cupboards. Finally, I saw her visualize me lying on the bed with her.

It was always a bit disconcerting to watch and listen to people fantasizing about me, and it happened more often than I would prefer. Frequently they didn't get things right – besides the fact that until this moment I would have been totally unwilling to act they way they picture me acting in their fantasies. It was the other details. They always seemed to get my height wrong; usually they thought I was shorter than I was. They imagined my skin to be warm, hot even, to the touch. They imagined me eating chocolate off their bodies, and really, how disgusting would that be? They had me saying things I'd never say, even if I had been interested in them. I don't speak like a seventeen year old player, thank you very much. Sometimes they got my smell right – Jessica, sadly, got a little too close one day, though not close enough to realize just how cold my skin was, compared to hers.

But having Bella fantasize about me was something else entirely.

I didn't care if she got my height wrong, or the warmth of my skin wrong or my scent wrong. All the little things that had always layered annoyance on top of annoyance didn't phase me in the least, now. After all, she would learn. She would learn how our bodies fit together when we held each other. She would learn how far up she had to reach, how far down I had to reach, to be able to kiss her soft lips. She would memorize my smell, my voice, my speech patterns soon enough. All I cared about was how soon I might be able to make her fantasies a reality.

At first her back lay up against my chest as she had me partially sitting up, leaning against her headboard. I held her around her waist, and she imagined that I would warm her up. She felt perpetually cold, here. She held up the book and we took turns reading out the lines from Romeo and Juliet. I was Romeo explaining my unrequited love, she was his friend Benvolio trying to coax me out to see other women. She imagined me melodramatic and purposefully silly, and I smiled at the thought. Then the book was gone and the fantasy changed. I was lying flat on the bed, now, and she was lying half to my side, half on me. It wasn't a large bed, but I think she imagined it slightly larger than it was, or me slightly smaller than I am. No matter. Our faces were as close as they had been today, when Eric took his picture. She was imagining my scent again and doing an excellent job at it, calling it back from the stores of her memory, and reliving the utter hash it had made of her thought processes at the time. I could hear her heartbeat increase ever so slightly even as I heard her breathing become more labored.

She held that image for quite some time. I could almost feel her hand curled up into a fist, resting on my chest. I could almost feel her hot breath in soft pants warming up the skin of my neck as she laid her head on my shoulder, its delicate weight feather light. It felt so good I almost groaned.

I wondered if this counted as my own fantasy, my first fantasy. I suppose since I wanted it so badly, and I, too, was visualizing, it could.

All too quickly her mind flittered to other places. She imagined herself having to lie to her father, and she didn't seem to be too keen on that. Watching her try to make excuses, I could see just how bad a liar she was.

This could be something of an issue, actually. Well, I thought, she's going to have to get better at lying.

_That's silly. If his family is anything at all like him, they'll be perfectly fine. And barring the possibility that he's secretly an axe murderer, I don't think Charlie will make a fuss._

The direction of her thoughts tugged at mine. I took out my cell phone and dialed the house.

"Hello?" Esme answered.

"Is Jasper around?"

"No, he went out with Alice. I think they went to Seattle."

"Did he bring his cell phone?" I asked.

"Of course, dear."

"Thanks, Esme," I said, just before hanging up.

The conversation with Jasper was brief. I needed to talk with him about our identities – they were proof against cursory inspection, but would they withstand an official background check? It had been fifty years since our identities were my responsibility. Once Jasper came I'd asked that it be delegated to him. I hung up, confident that if Chief Swan got curious about the Cullens, there would be just enough mundane material to bore him to tears.

When I returned to Bella, moments later, she had already begun to read, and there was a great deal of thumb-biting going on. Three pages later, just as Bella was noticing that Romeo's unrequited love was only one letter off from my eldest sister's name, I heard her father's car pull up into the front of the house. So did she. She paused in her reading, debating going down, but she didn't really want to. She remembered the familiar routine of her mother, a handsome older woman who somehow had a sense of youth that her daughter lacked, coming in the house and always seeking her out, always sitting down on her bed, sometimes curling up with her, petting her hair, asking her how her day was, milking her for information until Bella spilled everything. That her thoughts were so tinged with sorrow spoke volumes. If Jasper was here, he might have been reeling by now. She desperately missed her mother, Renee.

My poor Bella. I wanted to be lying on her bed with her, holding her close. I wanted her to tell me everything about her mother, about her relationship with her mother. I wanted so desperately to comfort her in that moment that I was out of the tree before I realized it. Only when my feet hit the ground did I remember myself and stay hidden.

Her thoughts continued on. Her father was very different. Where her mother was a starfish that needed to cling to something, her father was a sprawling cedar that needed space. Bella, my sweet Bella, seemed to think she was much more like her father than her mother in this respect.

I'd thought roughly the same of myself, until I met her. Now I feel rather like the starfish, to be honest.

She sighed and tossed her book onto the bedside table, but she missed and it landed on the floor.

"Bella, that you?" her father called from the downstairs. I could hear him taking off his gun belt and hanging it up near the front entrance.

_Who else would it be?_ she thought with sarcasm in her mental voice. Even so, there was no trace of the wry humor when she called out in reply. "Yea, Dad. Be right down."

I listened to her sigh and shift on the bed. It didn't sound like she was getting ready to leave her room. She imagined calling me after dinner. She practiced what to say.

_Hi, Edward. Would you like to come over so I can smell you some more? _She sighed at herself. _Hi, Edward. So, I'm calling, and… yea. _ She ran out of things to say, and wasn't pleased with herself. Finally she hit upon, _Hi, Edward. It's Bella. I'm done with dinner, so if you still want to go for a walk, I'm ready whenever you are._

As if I would change my mind. Really, Bella.

Her thoughts were quick then, as she suddenly realized that my number wasn't in her pocket. She sprang from the bed and meant to make a beeline for her book bag, but her legs weren't cooperating. She fell flat, and I would have been worried, except that she seemed to take it in stride "I'm okay," she called out loudly and automatically.

I listened as she took out two sheets of paper, and I saw them in her mind's eye the moment before, when she was still looking for them. One she folded up and put in her front jeans pocket, but not before looking at it for a long moment. She was trying to memorize my number. The other one she looked at as well, and then pinned it up on a board – cork, from the sound of it – on the wall. She had to reach over the desk to do it, and almost fell a second time. She pinned it over a finger painting she had done of a horse in the first grade.

_Time to clean this stuff out, I think. Oh, is it raining? Ugh._

It had started to rain some time ago, but she only just now was beginning to realize it. The rain never bothered me. In fact, I had always enjoyed the sound of rain in the forest, as each drop hits the leaves, the patter-tatter of the tiny drum beats. I found it rather soothing, actually. Bella was not of the same mind. Quite the contrary, it seemed she was horrified by the rain.

I groaned internally. It was a little taste of agony, being so close, but not with her. Not that I would chose to be far away, but her mind would touch on something and then slide to the next thing, her thoughts full of inferences and references and half formed memories that I didn't understand – and desperately wanted understand. I wanted to stop her mid-stream and ask questions, which was impossible on several levels. First, I was in the forest outside her house and she was still in her bedroom. Second, I couldn't yet ask her questions based on her thoughts… or could I? I wondered if I did it often enough how soon she would realize that I could hear her thoughts as clearly as her spoken speech. But what if she took the information badly? I'm not sure I could stand that. No, I'd have to take it slowly. I'd need to take it as slowly as I could so as to minimize the possibility of a negative reaction.

I listened as she finished tacking my drawing up over her desk before she went to pick her book up from where it had fallen beside her bed.

_Maybe I'll be in the mood to read later tonight, before bed,_ she thought, and then remembered our date. _I wonder if this really is a date, or if it's something… else. Just like, hanging out, or something. Maybe he just wants to be friends. But on the first day of school? Neither Jessica or Angela – who I'm sure would just want to hang out with me, as opposed to dating me – had a chance to ask me to hang out, and I can't actually imagine them springing that on the first day. Maybe once they'd gotten to know me… _she trailed off in her thoughts.

There was nothing I could do just at present to reassure her, subtly or blatantly, of my intentions, so I just listened. Her thoughts weren't very specific as she got up to go downstairs, up until she was on the first floor, and realized that she'd have to tell her father about me sooner rather than later.

_Might as well just get it over with._ I have to admit that I didn't understand her trepidation. Had Emmett not taken the opportunity to blurt it out to Esme, I would have been more than happy to do so myself, and it was with great joy that I told Carlisle about her. Her thoughts didn't make me doubt her at all, I was just very confused by them.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, Bells." He paused, and as I tried to read his thoughts, they were just as murky, if not more so, than Bella's. Hm. It was clearly a family trait, then. I didn't try any harder just at the moment. "So. First day of school. How'd it go?"

"Oh, um," she started, as if this question caught her off guard. She had been ready to hate Forks, hate high school, hate everything. And then she met me. I smiled as she recalled the two of us talking together before biology. "It was nice. You know, good. Everyone was very nice to me."

"Yeah? Meet anyone interesting?"

"Well, there is this one boy. We're in biology together. He asked me to go for a walk after dinner. I told him I would."

"This boy got a name?" her father asked, suddenly quite stern.

"Edward Cullen," she said.

Suddenly, I saw a hazy picture of Emmett form in Charlie Swan's head, only Emmett looked much older than he normally did. Slightly menacing, as well.

"Isn't he a little old for you, Bella?"

She was confused, and not quite sure how to answer that. "We're the same age, Dad. I'm a junior, he's a junior."

Now it was Charlie who was confused, but very willing to believe that he was picturing the wrong man. He hoped it, actually. "Which one's Edward, then? The big one?"

"No, Dad. That's one of his brothers. He's… the little one. With bronze hair."

Charlie was drawing a blank, but beyond that I couldn't tell. "Huh."

"What do you know about their family?" she asked, trying to get his mind away from how suitable or unsuitable I might be on an individual level.

Charlie instantly warmed to this topic. Apparently he thought quite highly of Carlisle. That was nice to know. Presumably there would be no background check on me, then.

"They're a good bunch. I'll admit that I was a little worried when they first moved into the area, what with a bunch of adopted teenagers, and Dr. & Mrs. Cullen being so young themselves. But they behave themselves much better than some of the people who have been around here for generations!" Charlie was beginning to show some passion to his subject, which was taking Bella by surprise. To me it simply sounded as if Charlie already had occasion to defend our presence in town. It was a comforting thought I would have to share with Carlisle. "They stick together like a family should, camping every other weekend. And that Dr. Cullen, we're lucky to have him! He's a world class surgeon, and it's just a good thing for us that his wife decided she was tired of city life and wanted to settle down somewhere quiet. Some people say otherwise, but based on what? Silly superstition." As Charlie wound down, I saw a picture of a man, a Native American elder, and I could only _assume_ that the treaty hadn't been broken yet.

_That is the most I've heard him say at one time in years. _Then the last part of what he said caught her attention. "What do you mean, superstition?"

"Quileute legend has an opinion on the ancestors of the Cullens, but don't pay it any mind, Bella. It's a bunch of bull. So tell me about this Edward. You like him?"

She was diverted, and she could feel herself blush. I don't think Charlie noticed, though, as he was occupied in creating their dinner.

"Yea. He's cool," she said, clearly trying to shut the conversation down.

"Yea, what else?"

"Dad," she said, trailing the word out, calling the line of conversation into question.

"Okay, okay. Dinner will be up in just a minute. Get yourself something to drink."

***

End part one of Chapter 2. Part two to be uploaded shortly… Please review and let me know if you liked it, and if you'd like to see it continued. Thanks. 


	4. Open Book, part 2

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P. To whom goes much love. And WD-40, fascinating because it's so freaky.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephanie Meyer, and I am grateful that she allows us all to play in the sandbox of her construction. Thank you, ma'am.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: Teen, for now.  
**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

**Author's Note: **The editor quoted by Bella in her introduction to Romeo & Juliet is Peter Alexander, whose views were accurately quoted in this fic. His edited version of Tragedies by William Shakespeare can be found published by Collins of London & Glasgow, the third of four volumes published in 1958.

***

Chapter 2: Open Book

***

Dinner was a quick and silent affair at the Swan house, and before long Bella was cleaning up and leaving the plates to dry.

"Well, I think the game's already started," Charlie said before he got up and went into another room, where he turned on the television and sat down to Mariner's game.

I listened while Bella got my number out of her pocket and again worked on committing it to her memory. She thought again of what she would say and tired to firmly affix it to the wall of her mind, like she'd done with my picture to the wall of her bedroom.

_Well, here goes nothing._

A moment after I heard the sound of ringing on the other end of the line, I heard and felt the vibration of my phone from the pocket of my jacket. I took it out and stared at it for a fraction of a second, instantly memorizing her number for future reference.

"Hello Bella," I said as I answered the phone. It seemed to take her off guard. I'd thrown her off her script. But I wanted to know what she would sound like, unscripted.

"Oh. Um, hi. Hi Edward."_ Oh, could I sound more like an idiot?_

I smiled. "I'm so glad you called. Does this mean you're done with dinner?"

She took a moment to gather herself so she wouldn't come across like an idiot, or so she thought. "Yes. If you still wanted to go for a walk…" she trailed off, not wanting to assume that I still wanted to spend time with her.

"Absolutely," I replied, and then had an idea. I would tell the truth as often as I could, and see where it got me. "I'm almost home, now. I just have to change and then I'll be right over."

"You have to change?" she asked, wondering what sort of after school athletics I was involved with.

"Yes," I replied. "I've been running in the rain."

"Oh," she said, and was quiet as she assimilated that, leading to a lovely fantasy of kissing individual drops of rain off the line of my jaw. Then she imagined me sneezing. She was worried that I was going to catch pneumonia. I almost laughed out loud.

"But I'm almost home now." It was true. I wasn't very far from home. A minute or five, depending on how fast I wanted to run, and whether or not I risked crossing the streets, or if I decided to take the long way of almost uninterrupted forest.

"Oh. Well, I'll see you in a little bit – oh, um, do you need directions?"

I tried to think of a true response that wouldn't make her uncomfortable.

"I think my dad knows where you live," I said, which was true. Carlisle knew where everyone in this town lived, just as I did.

"Oh. Okay. Well, bye."

"I'll see you soon, Bella," I said, every bit a promise to myself as to her.

I hung up and lingered just a moment, knowing that every moment I lingered was a moment I wouldn't be able to spend with her face to face. But her reaction was too delicious to run away from.

She had misremembered the beauty of my voice. She was awestruck that I seemed to be interested in her. She was a little disturbed at how easily she was fantasizing about me, and I was almost surprised that she didn't just go ahead and slap her own hand for wanting to lick the rain off my face. I'd have to make sure not to dry my hair too thoroughly.

Sooner than I liked I had to pull myself away. I did need to change and to drive over. I decided to take the short cut and hazard crossing the roadways. Once home, I found that Alice had left a change of clothes for me, draped over my leather sofa. I knew her still to be in Seattle, but I sent her a silent thought of thanks, nonetheless. Dark wash bootcut jeans, dark green crewneck ribbed sweater, dark green Doc Martin boots, and a hip-length black peacoat. There was a large, black golf-sized umbrella lying over it all.

I stripped down to all but the Cullen crest on my left wrist and toweled off before dressing as quickly as I could and grabbed the umbrella. As quick as thinking I was in the garage and before long I would be there, ringing her doorbell, introducing myself to her father.

And I was.

I worked on seeming harmless and sweet, just in case it helped with Charlie Swan.

"Chief Swan, it's very nice to meet you. I'm Edward Cullen. My father's told me so much about you." I stuck out my gloved hand and he took it.

"Edward." Charlie stated, accepting my introduction.

"Okay, well, bye Dad. We're just going for a walk." She was out the door and holding it open for me, standing on the porch. She seemed in a hurry to separate me from her father, so I went with it.

"Sir," I said, as I nodded to him and left his home.

I opened the umbrella over the both of us the moment we stepped off the porch.

"Sorry about that," she started, and I knew from her thoughts that she was referencing the moment at the door with her father, as if it was wrong, or abhorrent somehow, that he should open the door. "He's just… I… yeah," she finally concluded. It was a very good thing I could read her mind. I shudder to think how this might have gone, otherwise.

_Smooth, Bella._

"Don't worry about it," I said with a smile, looking over at her as she nervously tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, looked down, and stuck her hands in the pockets of her waterproof jacket. "So that was Charlie Swan. What's it like, living with him after all this time away?"

Images flashed through her mind so quickly I almost couldn't keep up. Sitting huddled on a boat. Charlie walking out of her bedroom. Her mother promising that she could come back whenever she wanted. Overhearing anguished phone conversations between her mother and a man. Digging up a tiny cactus plant, repotting it in the desert sunshine. Watching a professional baseball team practice. A young man, barely older than Bella, trying to explain to her the rules of baseball with great enthusiasm. A long silent moment in the police chief's car. A glimpse of herself in the sideview mirror – her face an essay in misery. Curled up in fetal position at night – possibly last night – her crying drowned out by the wind.

"It's okay," she said, obviously lying through her teeth. "I only got here yesterday."

"Is it, really?" I challenged her, turning and walking backwards for a moment as we turned the corner and walked along the road. I positioned myself directly in front of her. I wanted to see her eyes. If she was going to lie to me, I wanted her to do it to my face.

She looked up and smiled at my antics. I held her gaze. I heard her heartbeat spike. _Edward Cullen_, I heard her think, and it was a memory of Jessica Stanley telling her my name. "Yeah," she said. "It is." And this time I knew she was telling the truth.

"So why did you leave?"

She sighed. "Well," she started, telling me the story of her mother and Phil, and I listened, to both her words and her thoughts, one illustrating and illuminating the other, the memories of her mind running like a stop and start video behind her spoken narration.

"What about you?" she asked when she was finished. "When were you adopted? What… What was it like? I mean, you seem…" _normal,_ her thoughts finished. _Well adjusted,_ she thought as well. "…pretty cool," she finally finished.

I smiled, and stopped walking backwards. She hadn't thought anything strange of it yet, but she may yet think of it later and wonder. And I wanted her to wonder – but I wanted the little things to build slowly and gently. I didn't want anything to overwhelm her.

But still, I was going to tell her the most honest version of this I could manage.

"Carlisle found me just before he and Esme married. I was older, but it still seems like ages ago. And yet, just like yesterday, you know? My parents had already died, and I was really sick when he found me and… made me well. I… don't remember much from before." I smiled with my next words. "But I like my life as a Cullen well enough." I thought about the fact that I'd spent the last many decades in a state of mild depression and apathy, but that with the entrance of Bella into my life, that had all changed. I decided to not mention that small fact just yet.

"Do you… do you remember your name, from before?"

"Masen. Edward Anthony Masen."

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen," she said.

"What about you, Isabella Swan – do you have a middle name?"

"Marie."

"Isabella Marie Swan," I said. And then we both mentally added _Cullen _to the end of her name at the same time. I couldn't keep in the snicker at that.

"What? You think my name is funny?" she asked, and I could tell that she was confused at my laughter, but her aggression was only skin deep.

I silently shook my head, still smiling.

"You gonna share the joke?"

I shook my head and smiled wider.

She narrowed her eyes and glared at me. I attempted to appease her.

"Bella, I think your name is beautiful."

She snorted, but I could tell that she was, in fact, appeased.

"So, were you originally from Alaska, then?"

"No, but we have family up there." She was confused about that, with the adoptions, exactly whose family was in Alaska. "It's Carlisle's family, I suppose, but really all of ours. Rosalie and Jasper have kept the name Hale, but really, we're all Cullens, through and through." I pulled up my left sleeve and switched the umbrella to my other hand to show her Carlisle's crest. "We all wear it," I said, as I held it out for her perusal.

We stopped walking then, so she could concentrate on it, the black, white, and green of the crest.

_It's beautiful. I wonder what it means. I wonder how old it is. Wow, they all wear it? That's…_ but she didn't have words for what she thought that was, she couldn't even describe it in vague mental pictures. The knowledge of what the crest was for her was too much rooted in emotions that I couldn't read. If Jasper were here, he'd know exactly what she meant, but I was at a loss.

She traced the edge of it with a finger, and then dropped her hand to the side. "It's beautiful," she said, looking up to me and smiling a little before shifting her stance and letting me know she was ready to continue walking.

"What do you like to do? For fun?" she asked.

That was a difficult question. I did a lot of things. What I had fun doing, and what occupied my time were two different concepts. Learning Russian wasn't fun, but I had done it. I decided to go with the essence of what I thought her question was.

"I really like music."

"Listening or playing?"

"Both."

"What instrument do you play?"

What instrument don't I play? "The piano. It's my favorite."

"Maybe you should play for me sometime." She was still looking down.

"Maybe I should," I said playfully, a smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

"I'm sure there's a piano at school somewhere," she said, trailing off hopefully.

"Nah," I said. "I'd rather wait and play for you at home."

This made her think of a daydream she had of being able to buy her mother a piano. Meanwhile, it made me daydream of having her sit on the bench next to me as I played, or even better, stand directly behind me, her front against my back, one hand on my shoulder, one hand in my hair. And maybe she'd lean down and whisper something in my ear, maybe something like, 'I love you.' And maybe I'd turn around and kiss her.

"I'll hold you to that," she said, breaking me out of my first independent daydream of the two of us together.

And then it was my turn. I asked her questions, one after another. There was, after all, quite a bit of ground I needed to cover. I needed to know her favorite of everything, and I relished her answers as much as her thoughts on the subject. She was beautifully honest, and the few times she tried to ask a question, I informed her that it was still my turn. It could be her turn tomorrow, I decided. At one point she decided that the experience was not unlike a psychological examination and I almost laughed at the thought, unspoken, but I held it in.

I didn't want to push my luck on the first evening, however, so after an hour we were back nearing her house. At the porch – the light was on, I noticed – she lingered for a moment before she simply sat down on the top step and looked up at me invitingly. I sat down next to her, immediately. I kept the umbrella up, but held it in the hand farthest from her. She held her hands in her lap, one fingernail scratching along the opposite hand. There was no way I could gracefully take her hand without seriously invading her personal space – which I didn't feel comfortable doing just yet. At least, not at this exact moment. So instead I ran the back of one knuckle against the outside of her thigh, only inches from my own.

That got her attention.

She looked up at me and her mind was completely blank – not thinking at all, but completely focused on the moment we were having.

It was clearly time to declare my intentions. At least, it was time to declare all the intentions I thought she could stand to hear at the moment in any kind of credible fashion.

"I really like you, Bella. I really like spending time with you."

The tiniest of moans escaped her and went straight to the pit of my stomach. "I really like you, too, Edward." She blushed, and bit her bottom lip, which just made me want to kiss it, really.

"Will you sit with me at lunch tomorrow?"

She nodded. "Sure."

I tilted my head and looked at her, ducking my head to try and catch her gaze again. When I finally did, I spoke. "I'm so glad we both moved to this place. I would have never met you, otherwise."

My eyes darted down to see what her hands were doing – and finally they were quiet in her lap. I slipped my hand in hers and was shocked to feel a sort of electric charge go through my entire body – and hers. We both gasped at the same time. I retracted my hand quickly and apologized.

Almost as quickly she put her hand in mine, picking it up and lacing our fingers together. There was no full-body shock this time, for which I was grateful.

"Your hands are so cold," she remarked. I had taken off my gloves after the handshake with Charlie and never put them on again. I had wanted to touch her skin at some point this evening.

_Cold hands, warm heart,_ she thought. She brought her other hand around and held my one between the both of hers.

"Maybe you can warm it up for me," I whispered, thinking that if anyone could bring warmth and light into my life, it was going to be Bella Swan.

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth again, and blushed. She had a mental image of bending over our clasped hands. In the brief fantasy she breathed her hot breath onto them and chafed her hands over mine for warmth. She didn't do this, however, and our hands, slightly suspended over the four inches of space that separated our bodies, slowly came to rest on the top of her knee. Instead of her fantasy, she simply held my hand in one of hers, tracing the back of my hand with her other one. Her fingers felt like the lightest of caresses, a tentative feather considering a fall.

I lazed in the soft gentleness of her thoughts. She was pleased that our skin tones seemed so similar, reflecting that neither of us had any color in this sunless place. She marveled that my skin could feel so soft, and yet so hard, like satin over marble. Her heartbeat thudded overtime for just a moment or two when she wondered if my whole body would be like that. She really wanted to find out for herself.

I really wanted to let her.

She looked up and I met her gaze. _Oh, wow, _she thought. It seemed that every time she met my eyes, looked at my face, she was shocked all over again at how beautiful she found me.

Without any thought to herald it, she blurted out, "I've never met anyone with absolutely black eyes."

I smiled a little, deciding to seize upon yet another opportunity to give a hint and be as truthful as I could without scarring her for life by frontloading her with information. "Actually, they change color. Next week they'll be gold."

She thought I was teasing her. She crinkled her nose at me and gave me an incredulous look. "Are you for real?"

I hummed my assent and nodded slightly. "And then they'll slowly turn black again."

"How? Why?" she asked, slowly, trying to take me seriously, but still uncertain if I was simply teasing her in some significantly elaborate fashion.

I shrugged. I wasn't willing to go there yet. "Quirk of nature, I guess."

"You're full of surprises, Edward Cullen."

I conceded her point with a smile. "And you're delightful to be with, Bella Swan." I took a deep breath. "I don't want to say goodbye."

_**Then don't!**_ came her mental shout. I felt a fission of pleasure crawl up my spine at her response.

"But I also don't want your father to think ill of me," I continued on. "Because that would put a crimp in my plans."

"Plans? You have plans?" she asked in an adorably out-of-breath manner.

Again, I hummed my assent before explaining. "If it's alright with you, of course," I said and waited as she gave me a questioning look. "I want to spend time with you," I said simply, neglecting to point out just how much time I was talking about.

"I'm okay with that."

"Good," I said. "It's settled then."

"So, I'll see you at lunch?"

"If not before."

I stood then, my hand shifting in her grasp until I had the proper hold to help her to her feet. It was a good thing, too, as her shoe caught on the edge of one of the boards. I admit that if I had chosen to catch her sooner, it would have only required my other hand touching her waist. She might have barely noticed that she'd tripped at all. It might have seemed that I was only steadying her. But alas, I did not catch her sooner. Alack and alas, the entirety of her slight form crashed into mine, though naturally I wasn't going anywhere. Instead of a hand at her waist, my arm wrapped around her waist and held her close. Her other hand, still held in mine, slipped out and braced herself against my shoulder, leaving me a free hand – yes, to hold her upper back. I admit that my thumb was rubbing small circles in between her shoulder blades before I knew what I was about.

"Oh! Oh my gosh, I'm… I'm so sorry," she breathed in my ear. I didn't moan, which was good. But I really wanted to do so. "I'm such a klutz, I have no coordination," she explained.

"It's okay," I said softly in response. I was so busy enjoying the feel of her body against mine and the smell of her, oh for all that was holy, the _smell_ of her – her blood, her flesh – that I almost forgot to let go. It didn't help that the hand at my shoulder, after a moment, curled around my neck, and her other hand, trapped between us, curled into a fist in my jacket.

_Oh, yes. Please, please, please don't ever let me go. Can we just stay like this? Please?_

I swallowed hard, swallowing back the instinctive flow of venom that started to fill my mouth, and started internally at a completely new feeling in my body. I knew, intellectually, what erections were, but hadn't actually experienced one in the last eighty years or so of my living memory. Until now. I gasped with the flood of feelings and the urge to hold her even closer than before, to pull her hips sharply to mine. Instead, I slowly released her, setting her gently back on her feet.

I met her eyes and both our minds were silent, though her heartbeat maintained the relatively high pace it had assumed the moment I caught her. Words couldn't express how much I loved this young woman.

I watched as her eyes darted down to look at my lips and as she fantasized about kissing me, I was even more keenly aware her hand at my neck and my shoulder, and my own hands at each side of her waist.

Too soon. It was too soon. I chanted that to myself as she kissed me in her imagination, her lavender-like scent flooding my senses. My tongue darted out to moisten my lips and suddenly we were French kissing in her imagination and the only thing keeping me from bringing her fantasies to life, in the end, was the venom that was pooling in my mouth.

I swallowed hard and pulled away a few inches. I hadn't even realized how much distance we'd closed. I took a deep breath and luxuriated in her scent and my control. I caught her gaze and smiled a little mischievously, wondering if the knowledge of her fantasies was dancing in my eyes like I suspected it was.

"Goodnight, Bella. Sweet dreams."

Her intake of breath was something like a gasp, and it wasn't until she exhaled that she spoke.

"Goodnight, Edward."

Her eyes seemed to relay her discontent and it hurt to watch it. I let go of her waist, and as she took her hands hesitantly from my body I scooped up her right hand again and walked with her back up the steps until she was right in front of the door. I lifted her hand to my lips and decided it would be better not to breathe this first time, though her round eyes held me captive. I brushed my lips lightly against her knuckles before I gently left a kiss on the back of her hand.

I released her hand, walked to my car and drove away without looking at her, though I was firmly entrenched in the sweet deliciousness of her mind and I did grimace when I was very quickly out of range to hear anything from her.

Then misery set in. The cacophony of voices that I hadn't even been trying to block before came flooding back with a doubled intensity that made me groan. Was it always this loud? Was it always this… this _annoying?_

I'd have to ask Alice and Jasper if their gift was affected by being around each other. Clearly there was a discernable difference in my ability to tune out other minds when I was around Bella. Which is to say that I actually had an ability to tune out other minds, as opposed to my usual methods; the mental equivalent to putting my fingers in my ears and whistling a sprightly tune – a method that always been more of a symbolic gesture than anything else.

I drove back quickly, slowly becoming reacclimated to the mental noise. By the time I was in the house, Alice and Jasper still weren't back, but I wasn't sure I particularly wanted to share my interactions with Bella with anyone else just yet. Instead I sat down at my piano and worked on her nocturne.

Three hours later I couldn't get her out of my head. I took my school props to my room to write out the homework that was due the next day, but that never took me long. I could write as fast as anything else I did, and it was soon over. Then I left the house by way of the floor-to-ceiling window door at the back of my bedroom and took off running. I wasn't thinking – I wasn't intending to go to Bella's, but I did. I stood at the edge of the forest and listened for noises in the house. All was quiet, and it seemed like everyone was asleep, but both Charlie and his daughter were hard ones to read, so I came closer. Beneath her window I listened harder. I could hear the deep breathing of her father asleep, and her, too. But I wanted to see it.

The front door or her bedroom window – this was the choice before me. If I used the front door I could unlock the window from the inside and leave that way– and it would be undoubtedly locked. She would have had little opportunity or occasion to open it in the last 48 hours, and the room had presumably gone unused for years before she moved back. No, it would be locked, and possibly quite stuck and noisy. The stuck part wouldn't be an issue but perhaps I should dart home and grab one of Rosalie's cans of WD-40?

I was away and running as soon as I decided it would be the best option. Rosalie gave me an arch look as I took the can and promised to bring it back.

_Don't fuck this up, Romeo._

I snorted at her comparison. I had no intention of falling tragically to the horror of bad timing, as Bella would put it. For once, it seemed my life was going to have a happy ending sooner rather than later, and I for one was not going to stand in the way.

***

End Chapter Two

***

review and let me know if you liked it, and if you'd like to see it continued. Thanks. 


	5. The Best Policy, part 1

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P. To whom goes much love. And Stalking!Edward, because he's the bestest stalker on the market.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephanie Meyer, and I am grateful that she allows us all to play in the sandbox of her construction. Thank you, ma'am.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.

**Rating**: I think we might be up to M for Mature at this point. Please note rating change!!

**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.  
**Author's Note: **Welcome to the land of the bizarre, which is what I think this chapter is. Also, maybe the best thing I've written, but no less bizarre for the possibility.

***  
Chapter 3: The Best Policy, part one  
***

Breaking and entering was usually a job left to Alice and me, and any place we stayed for any length of time, we always learned how to gain entry without notice to a few, key places. The hospital was one of those places, for when Carlisle occasionally didn't work at one. We found out just how essential that was the one time Rosalie had to fake being dead and ended up in locked in the morgue. Her act of breaking out ended up causing more damage than if she had been suspiciously alive in the first place. The police station, in case we ever need to appropriate evidence, and the home of the head of the police department, because you never knew when they were going to decide to take their work home with them. We did other places on an as-needed basis, but those were standard.

So as it happened, I knew that Charlie Swan kept his house key on the eave of the front porch. I used it to slip inside, replaced the key and bolted the door on my way past.

Bella's mind was completely silent. The house was silent. I decided to wander around to get a lay of the land. In the kitchen I witnessed the yellow cupboards for myself and wondered what prompted them. I looked inside the cabinets to see for myself what Bella thought was a dismal state for them to be in, and when I saw the jar holding a few bills for groceries, I sandwiched a fifty between the twenties and hoped that it would, in fact, be Bella who did the shopping. But it seemed like such a foregone conclusion to her, I decided not to doubt her. I made a mental note to check that jar regularly.

I looked at the mantel in the living room and witnessed baby Bella, and Bella throughout her school years. It was amazing to think that even last year, Bella had looked so young.

It made me stop to think. Was she really so old now? She was seventeen. In former years, she might have been married with a child or two by this point. She was a spinster compared to Juliet, of whom she was reading just earlier. And yet by the standards of the current time she was still a child in all ways but one – she was allowed to drive a car, but she was still a minor, unable to vote, bear arms, or drink alcohol. In the eyes of her parents she was most certainly still a child… or was she?

Bella had obviously taken a somewhat adult role in her relationship with her mother, early on, and it seemed the trend was starting itself over again with Charlie. Time would tell more on the subject, but I did wonder.

What I knew, unequivocally, was that I adored her. The rest… would fall into place somehow, though I had no idea how that would be.

I walked up the stairs, guided to Bella by her scent. She had closed her door so I spent an extra moment listening to make sure that she was, in fact, asleep before I opened it and slipped silently inside.

The first thing that hit me was her scent. She hadn't been in the room long – only 36 hours, probably, 48 at the most – but it was already beginning to smell like her. In a month, walking in here would be a truly decadent experience.

Immediately after, I was struck by how beautiful and peaceful she seemed. Quickly I shook myself and moved over to the window. I was right – it had been locked, but in a moment I had it open and moving smoothly, thanks to the WD-40. I lightly tossed the can out the window with a mental note to pick it up before I left.

I stood over her at first, then I decided that my best vantage point would be to sit on the floor next to her bed, so I could see her face clearly as she was turned to the side.

Then the wind started. As she began to toss and turn I wondered just how quickly I could get out of the room if I needed to. The door and window both being closed made it tricky, but I practiced. As the window was now good as new, it was now the faster option, and I could get out and have it closed again in a quarter of a second, which I reckoned to be just about as fast as Bella could blink disbelievingly.

I stood back from her now, as comfortable standing in the shadows as I had been sitting on her floor. It wasn't too long in that she started to dream. Her dreams were troubled at first, and I wondered if it was her move, or the distance from her mother, or maybe just the wind. Her dreams were filled with people I didn't recognize and images I didn't understand. Everything was clear, clearer even than in a daydream, but it didn't make sense. Basic laws of physics were being violated left and right.

Then I walked into her dream.

"Oh, Bella, I _like_ him," I heard her mother say from across the dreamscape. She had one arm looped through Charlie's arm – he was looking dubious – and one arm through another, much younger man's arm, presumably her new husband. "But remember," she intoned, "You need to wait until you're thirty to get married."

The dream me walked up to her and smiled, circled around to the back of her and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Don't worry, Bella. I don't want to marry you. You know boys like me only want one thing, anyway."

I was horrified, and wished heartily that I could alter those words, but it wasn't my dream.

"Well, I don't want to get married, so that's fine," she responded, her tone quite definite. Was that true? Did she really not want to get married? Ever? _Ever?_ I could only hope that if it was the case, her mind could be persuaded to espouse other views.

I watched her turn around and loop her arms around my neck. I could see dream me wrap my arms around her waist.

"Will you kiss me, at least?" she asked me.

"That, and more," dream me replied.

"I don't know if I'm ready for a whole lot more than that right now," she muttered and mumbled around the kiss. But very soon into the kiss one of her legs was hitched up and wrapped around my hip and the dream me had one hand supporting that leg, high up on her thigh.

It was a position that had merit.

Then the dream shifted and she was standing alone, deep in the green forest. She called out, but no one answered. She seemed to be growing more anxious. She started running clumsily, falling down and pulling herself back up again, and before long the scene began to change around her, the green growing more red, and brown. Before long she was in a desert landscape. She looked at a large boulder critically before she sat down on it, her jacket disappearing, her outfit changing. She wore a tank top and shorts, and her skin had a marvelous luminosity to it in the sun. She sighed, happily.

Then the wind started up again outside her window, and suddenly it was raining in the desert, and Bella was huddled down beside the boulder, sobbing. And there I was, dream me, crouching down next to her with the umbrella from this evening. She looked up to me, tearstained face and all, and proclaimed that she hated Gym, and rain, and clouds, and Forks.

Then dream me stood at the end of a police line up, with each of my brothers and sisters there as well. We each wore a sign stating our name and the first name of our spouse in parenthesis. Under my name was (Bella), I noticed.

"Him. That one," Bella said to her father, looking at the line up through the one-way glass, pointing out dream me.

"Hmm. So, not the big guy, then?"

"No, no. He's with the perfect one."

"What about that other one, the blond guy? He's not bad."

"No, he's taken, too. Edward's the only single one, Charlie." Interesting. She called him Charlie in her thoughts and Charlie in her dreams, and Dad to his face.

"What about some other guys? I could get another group in here, no problem Bells. Lotsa nice boys your age. These boys all seem too old for you."

"No, Charlie. He's it. That's what I want for Christmas."

"I don't know, Bells. He looks kind of expensive. Have you seen the car he drives? He dresses real nice, too."

"Oh, come on, Charlie. Please? I'll help pay. I'll get a job. I've got more money than I'm used to since I didn't have to buy a car after all. Please?"

"Yea, but where would we keep him?"

"He can sleep in my room, with me."

"Well, boys only do want one thing. Still, I don't know."

"And I promise not get married. Please? _Please?"_ And then dream Charlie gave in, much to my shock and Bella's joy. I really didn't think the Chief of Police would act this way.

"Oh, alright. Come on, let's go get him." It's like they were picking out a Christmas tree, or a puppy.

And then Bella was leading dream me to her bedroom, only I was still in handcuffs.

"I forgot to ask for the key to those, but I guess we can get it tomorrow. At least I know you won't be going anywhere."

Then she started undressing dream me, as I lay on her bed. She unbuttoned my shirt and left it hanging. She pushed my hands over my head and left them there. Dream me was utterly silent and unresponsive as she kissed my chest and licked my neck, but Bella seemed not to notice. My shoes and socks seemed to conveniently disappear. She took off dream me's pants and boxers, but the dream was somewhat vague when it came to what was beneath them. I blinked when she mounted and started riding dream me, because I noticed that at the last moment, it was very clear, only… Only my penis had somehow been replaced with a smallish bright pink dildo.

And I thought Bella's dreams could get no more bizarre at the police line up.

Just before she was about to orgasm, she woke up.

I was out of the window before she had her eyes open.

I smiled, leaning against her house, immersed in her thoughts. She remembered me mostly naked in her bed, in handcuffs, and she remembered being very close to orgasm, but that was it. She wondered how I'd gotten into her bed, and how she could get me back there, before chastising herself for wanting to have sex with me.

Then she gave serious thought to whether or not she wanted to have sex with me at some point. She decided that she definitely did, should the relationship last that long and go that far, and she wondered if she should, or even could, get a prescription for birth control. She wished this had become an issue while her mother was still around because she didn't think it was possible that Charlie would agree. She decided instead to drive to Port Angeles in the next couple of weeks and buy condoms there.

Meanwhile, I was floored.

It was a good thing that no one had asked me to say anything, because I was standing there with a complete inability to say anything at all. I was flummoxed. It wasn't that she decided she wanted to have sex with me. I have watched all too many people decide in their minds that they want to have sex with me. It was the ease with which she made that serious decision, given the fact that of all the women and men who had so decided, she actually would have something approximating opportunity and reciprocal affection, which she knew! A fantasy was one thing, but this… this was a _plan._

She was planning on getting condoms for us.

Flummoxed. I was absolutely flummoxed.

And then she sighed and fell back asleep.

How could she just fall asleep after deciding something like _that?_ Before I knew what I was about, I was pacing below her window.

Rosalie had bet that it would be only four days before Bella pushed my boundaries. Fourteen hours was truer to life. But maybe it didn't count if Bella didn't push my boundaries while conscious? I was holding out hope that Jasper would win the bet after all was said and done. Please let her keep it all inside with nothing more than a chaste kiss before she pulls away, blushes, and changes the subject. _Please,_ I pleaded with the God I suspected more and more clearly to exist and not hate me.

I stayed outside her window all night, only leaving as the sun began to rise. I didn't trust myself in the same room with Bella, now that she was planning on buying condoms. Suddenly my presence seemed incredibly improper, in a way it really hadn't before. I tried not to think about it, but that was like trying to ignore a large pink elephant when one decides to take up residence in the living room. Or, substitute Tanya for the elephant, if you like, and the image still works. My thoughts kept circling between Bella's condom buying venture and Rosalie and Alice's thoughts about vampire ejaculate. I didn't want to have to deal with either one of them at the present moment.

I decided to focus on Bella's car on the run home. How on earth could I get her driving a safer vehicle? Utterly disabling her present truck was no problem at all, if it should come to it, but how would I get her into a better one? I wondered if she would just accept the gift, or if perhaps it were somehow anonymous, if that would help. I really didn't know her well enough to say, but I knew that some humans were very particular when it comes to money and costly gifts, and if she wasn't it would be likely that her father would be.

There was always Rosalie, of course. And since Rose seemed to be speaking to me these days, it was a thought that might actually bear fruit. So really, Bella's truck would simply need to sustain something amounting to medium to severe damage, which Rosalie would generously offer to fix, and while she was at it, rebuild and greatly enhance the safety of the vehicle. I wondered how difficult it was to put in after market airbags. If I knew Rose, she'd take it as a challenge, right after she rebuilt the engine, and sometime before she updated the paint job. It would be a remarkable antique by the time she was done with it.

Rosalie really was incredibly handy to have around, when she wasn't angry beyond belief.

I was greeted with a chorus of mental recognition when I crossed over the mile mark of the radius of the house, and it was a nice feeling, to come home, even though it meant leaving Bella and her sometimes dangerous thoughts.

I still had a few hours before we had to leave for school, so I sat down at the piano. My hands at the keyboard, it was not the nocturne that I began to work on, but something new, a new movement in the symphony for Bella. This was an andante piece, inspired by the last of her dream, the strength of her passion as much as the strength of my confusion.

My confusion, my lack of mental or emotional clarity about my physical and sexual boundaries wasn't aided by the fact that every single member of my family was apparently enjoying a moment of intimacy with their spouse just at present. And I had no Bella to protect my mind from them. It was only my focus on the andante piece that kept Jasper's thoughts of Alice, Alice's thoughts of Jasper, Carlisle's thoughts of Esme, Esme's thoughts of Carlisle, Emmett's thoughts of Rose and Rose's thoughts of Emmett – all of which were particularly strong just at present – from absolutely shouting down one another in my brain.

They usually don't achieve such unison unless Jasper loses control, which it didn't feel like he had, so I could only imagine that perhaps they were duly inspired by the advances in my own love life.

I thought of leaving, I thought of turning back while still a mile out, but it seemed like an appropriate penance somehow. If I would subject myself to this for the next two hours, an endeavor that I would not enjoy, then perhaps the words that my dream doppelganger had uttered would be marked null and void. 'Don't worry, Bella. I don't want to marry you. You know boys like me only want one thing, anyway.' I shuddered to remember. I would always remember it.

And so I played. I closed my eyes and played. I weaved the melody around Bella's daytime fantasies of the two of us, around her millennial generation matter-of-factness concerning birth control and the prospect of sex with her new boyfriend. I added my own growing attraction, my fascination with her scent of lavender and freesia, my newfound awareness of myself as possibly a sexual being. There was a bold clumsiness about the piece that was yet somehow still engaging, entrancing. It was innocent passion. It was the sexual fantasies of virgins.

Twelve minutes before we were to arrive at school, everything stopped. I could feel Jasper send out a wave of calmness that usually served as our alarm clock.

"Aw, man! It was just getting good!" said Emmett. He was always loathe to leave off of his moments with Rosalie.

Esme chuckled. Carlisle was not due to return to the hospital for another several hours, and it was doubtful that they would leave the confines of their room until that point. "Go to school, Emmett," she said from within their room.

"How come you get to be the parent? I want to be the parent next time. You go to high school again."

"Go to school, Emmett," she repeated calmly. "You graduate this year. You can have the next eight years off, if you like."

"Yea, yea. We probably won't be in Forks by then," he grumbled, but it was clear that he had gotten up and was donning the clothes that Alice had chosen earlier in the week.

Alice was a gift, in that way. She always set aside a weeks worth of clothes, organized by the day we would wear them, in one section of our closets. There were very few things we wore more than once. Our baseball uniforms, some of our jackets and shoes, and Carlisle had his favorite suits, but beyond that, Alice had full rein. It was just as well. If it were up to me, I'm not sure I'd be able to get it right, day after day.

I went to my own closet to see what was on the menu for today. Dark blue dress cargo pants, a white oxford and a ribbed close fitting light blue vee neck sweater, topped by the tan suede jacket. She'd put out a pair of brown loafers, but I was rather partial to the green doc martins I was wearing, so I decided to override her.

"But they're green! You're wearing blue today!" I heard Alice whine as she and Jasper dressed themselves on the floor below.

"Will the stock market crash if I wear them? Will a plane crash in Fiji?" I waited for her response. "No? I'm wearing them, then."

"He's just being a brat because he's not getting any yet," Emmett said. He was already downstairs, retrieving his props. I wasn't far behind him.

"Am not," I commented, coming down the stairs.

"Are too," he responded, handing me my own props.

"Am not," I said, shoving him out the door and off the porch.

"See? He's getting bratty."

"Boys!" called Esme, raising her voice only slightly, though her tone was loud and clear.

But my mind was already on to the next thing. Lunch. I had invited Bella to eat with us at lunch. Hmm…

Jasper and Alice were next down the stairs and Rosalie right behind them. We met at the car.

"I don't think it will be a problem," Alice said to me. "Just because Bella eats with us doesn't mean we have to eat. If she's going to put two and two together, she should have two and two presented to her, first."

We were all in the car, then, and I pulled out.

"Bella's eating with us? Um, how is that going to work, you know, on our end? When? Are we talking lunch, here?" Emmett asked.

I nodded.

"That's going to be interesting," Rosalie added, from the backseat.

"But nice. We all want to meet her, after all," Alice said.

I had noticed Jasper's eyes when he came down. Apparently he and Alice had stopped at some point last night to hunt, so I worried less about his close proximity to Bella today, and decided not to mention it.

"I vote we go the special-diet route," said Jasper, meaning our perennial excuse for not eating what hospitality and common sense demanded we must.

"And we'll explain the presence of uneaten food, how?" asked Rosalie.

"Easy," said Alice. "We'll be honest. Honesty is the best policy, after all. We'll say that the teachers tend to freak out when we don't seem to eat."

And that settled it.

We were among the first to arrive, as we usually were. I noticed Emmett stand in the middle of the space next to us with the firm thought of reserving it for Bella's use, but I think we'd forgotten to tell Bella about that, as she parked in the same spot as yesterday, across the lot from us.

"Aw, man," Emmett muttered, unintelligibly and far too quickly for a human to have picked up, even if one had been standing near.

"Is she headstrong or oblivious?" Asked Rosalie in the same manner.

"Both," Alice said.

I followed the conversation in a cursory manner, but I was already enjoying Bella's presence, and the presence of her mind. I was going to try not to wallow in it today, though, just to see. A scientific experiment, if you will.

She was nervous and excited to see me, and she was thinking about the fact that she was nervous and excited, or else I wouldn't have known. She didn't think she should be nervous, and she thought she had no reason to be excited. Bella thought I would tire of her quickly, or barring that, that I would wake up one morning (an unlikely scenario, already) and realize who it was I was interested in, at which point she'd never hear from me again.

I was confused. Was this the thinking of a woman with a plan to buy condoms?

I crossed the parking lot quickly, but not so quickly as to gather undue notice. I opened her door for her just as her hand reached for the interior handle.

"Good morning, Bella," I said.

_My memory of him really doesn't do him any justice at all, _she thought, and as it was becoming usual for me to hear, I registered her elevated heart rate. _He smells amazing today, too._ _I wonder if last night was… a date. In hindsight it sort of felt like it. Shoot – how do you ask that kind of question? Excuse me beautiful boy, are we dating, or are you just hallucinating every time you see me?_

She was staring at me, thinking these amusing thoughts, giving me more than one reason to be smiling at her, but she wasn't actually saying anything in response to my greeting. Soon enough she realized her social gaffe and shook herself.

"Oh. Um, hi. I mean," she said, this time with a smile, "hi. Good morning. Sleep well?" she asked, slipping out of the cab of her truck, and dragging her bag with her.

I stepped back to allow her room and leaned against the door after I shut it. I crossed my arms over my chest, holding my books there in the process as I answered her as honestly as I could. "It was an interesting night, to be sure. You? What was this, your second night in Forks?"

She nodded. "You asked almost all the questions last night. I think it must be my turn, today."

I raised an eyebrow and resisted the urge to sink utterly and completely into the comfort of her mind, staying instead just at the surface, listening at the moment to her relatively quiet thoughts. She was wondering about my family.

"What's it like, growing up with all of those extra brothers and sisters, but only getting them… you know, mid-stream?"

I shrugged. "An adventure, I guess. Sometimes there are personality conflicts, but I can't imagine my life without them. We're family. We'll always have each other. We share responsibilities, we look out for one another."

"Wow," she said. "I can't even imagine what that would be like. I'm an only child of divorced parents. Sometimes it feels… Like there's me and that's it, you know? The buck stops here." She sighed and shifted her weight.

"Maybe we can teach you how to share the load," I said.

She laughed. "Is your dad going to adopt me, too?"

"Maybe," I said, grinning.

"So," _Oh, no I can't ask him that,_ she said and thought. She wanted to know about the fact that my siblings had paired off.

"What?" I asked. I was going for innocent, and as she didn't know me very well yet, I think I could still pull it off.

"No, nevermind."

"Bella," I said, the seriousness of my tone bringing her eyes back to mine. "You can ask me anything. You can always ask me anything. And I'll always answer as honestly as I can."

Her mind was blank for a moment, and then the words tumbled out quickly. "How is it that your brothers and sisters are dating? I mean, how can your parents be cool with that?"

I smiled. This I loved about Bella – she seemed perfectly willing thus far, to actually share with me what she was thinking, at least for the most part. She clearly was not like this with everyone – not her father, not Jessica, but I looked forward to watching her form other close friendships, to see how she was with them.

I inched closer to her as I spoke. I looked off at my family just briefly and smiled to see their expectant faces. They were all very interested in seeing how I was going to answer Bella's question. "Love at first sight," I said, looking back at Bella now, "seems to run in the family." I watched her mentally process how that could be true for my siblings… and how it could be true for me.

_Holy Crow. Does… he… mean…_

"Carlisle and Esme, my dad and mom," I continued, "respect that."

"Do you believe in love at first sight? I mean, real love, not like, a crush."

"Don't you?" I countered, smiling and tilting my head.

"I've never really thought about it before."

"And now that you have?

"The jury's still out," she responded truthfully.

"Tell me when they reach their verdict," I said before changing the subject. It was time to disarm the tension between us. "So. Do you want to meet them?"

"Who?" she asked, confused but somewhat alarmed.

"My brothers and sisters," I said, my smile renewed.

_Oh no! What if they don't like me? This is a bad idea._

"They're going to love you," I said without thinking. "Come on," I said, unfolding my arms and coming up next to her. I took her hand in mine and neither one of us was wearing gloves. "I really want you to meet them."

We began walking back across the parking lot, but she was talking immediately.

"Wow, your hands are still cold. You're like ice."

I laughed, louder this time, and people turned to stare. "Yes, you're just going to have to get used to that. That's normal, for me."

She looked up and over at me, giving me an odd smile, as if she were humoring me. _You really are a strange young man, Edward Cullen. But I like you._

I like you too, Bella.

_They're all so very pale. I think I forgot how pale they all are. Except Jasper. And beautiful. I so don't belong here. Jessica and her friends are staring at me._

We stopped just short of them by the car. They were all on their best behavior, attempting to look human. Jasper held Alice from behind, and they were talking and smiling at one another until the moment we came over. Emmett had been leaning against the car and had done something to merit Rosalie smacking him upside the head with the phrase, 'don't be an idiot' attached to the motion. He'd said something about me, but I hadn't been paying the strictest attention.

"Bella, I'd like to introduce to you Alice and Jasper, and Emmett and Rosalie."

"Hi," she said weakly, clearly trying to marshal her enthusiasm and courage. _Shit. Jasper's eyes are yellow. Not yellow, gold, just like Edward said his eyes would be next week._ I watched as she took a quick inventory and noted that everyone else's eyes were like my own, utterly black. _Is something in the water at their house?_

I rubbed my thumb gently against the back of her hand.

"It's really nice to meet you, Bella. I hear you're having lunch with us, today?" Alice chirped.

"Edward invited me," she responded.

"That's quite the classic truck you have over there, Bella. What year is it?" Rosalie asked, and both Emmett and I grinned at her. She was trying to be nice, and the whole family was grateful.

Alice caught my eye, then. _I'll ask Eric about the picture, Edward. You take care of Bella this morning,_ she thought. I dipped my eyes up and down to show my assent before my focus shifted back to Bella.

"Oh, um, I don't really…" _Great. She speaks car and driver, and I don't,_ thought Bella.

"Cars are a hobby of mine. I'd love to get under the hood sometime."

_No way. Behold the irony. _"Knock yourself out."

"I will," Rosalie said with a smile. She took Bella's statement to be blanket permission to rework the old Chevy at some point in the near future.

"We should be going," Jasper said.

I tugged on Bella's hand and we walked to her locker in silence. When she was done unloading and reloading her bag, she looked to me expectantly, only her mind was silent.

"What?" I asked.

"Where's your locker?" she asked.

Oh, right. I didn't always bother with bringing the text books around, except in Spanish and math where it was required as the teacher taught from the exercises. But I could show her where it was and take those two textbooks now.

"Whoh, you are seriously neat," she commented at my utterly plain locker. My books were perfectly covered in standard brown paper, though unlabeled, as I knew them by size. I rarely used them, anyway. I had one folder that transported homework assignments to and from school, and my leather bound journal that I always carried with me, more of a diary than anything else. There was one pen, one pencil, one calculator, the latter for show, and because it was required. Trigonometry and pre-Calculus I could do in my head. But what else was necessary?

***

...to be continued in chapter 3, part two! In the mean time, please do let me know what you think of the story thus far. Know that I value each review and that they all help inspire me to write more, and quickly. Thanks!


	6. The Best Policy, part 2

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P. To whom goes much love. And Stalking!Edward, because he's the bestest stalker on the market.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephanie Meyer, and I am grateful that she allows us all to play in the sandbox of her construction. Thank you, ma'am.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: I think we might be up to M for Mature at this point.  
**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.  
**Author's Note: **Welcome to the land of the bizarre, which is what I think this chapter is. Also, maybe the best thing I've written, but no less bizarre for the possibility.

***  
Chapter 3: The Best Policy, part two.  
***

"What's your first class?" I asked, taking up her hand again.

"Government." We walked there in silence, and I debated asking her about the class just before lunch, but decided instead to just monitor her throughout the morning and surprise her there after it was over.

Bella was busy wondering about the love at first sight comment. She figured that Alice and Jasper, and Emmett and Rosalie must have been in love now for several years, but her mind kept circling back around to wondering if I had fallen in love with her at first sight. She was too afraid to believe it could be true. I was just happy to have planted the seed of it in her mind.

We got to the door and stopped just next to it, so as not to block the way of her classmates. I smiled at her, thinking of just how many times I had smiled in the last 24 hours. I watched her whole body move when she sighed. We held each other's gaze in silence.

_This is the boy, _she thought. _This is the one I want._ She then briefly had a flashback to her dream the night before, the portion where she was pointing me out in a police line up to her father, but she mentally shook her head. _Now what was that from? Did I dream last night? How weird._

Did she dream? Did she _dream_? Had she forgotten it – had she forgotten all of it? I was elated, and yet strangely disappointed. Maybe she had no memory at all of her plan to buy condoms either, which might be a blessing in disguise, but I couldn't decide how I felt about it just yet. I shoved it aside just for now in lieu of dealing with the present moment.

"See you later," I said. I squeezed her hand gently, released it, and then walked away.

I had to remind myself several times that day that I was monitoring her thoughts, not losing myself in them. It was more tempting than I had realized to just sink in and ignore everything else. I did amuse myself by listening to her conversations with other people, however, and not just from her point of view. Her conversation with Jessica at the beginning of math was interesting, for instance. Our classrooms were close enough that I could simply overhear their spoken conversation as it occurred, without having to listen in to Jessica's mind, which isn't a pleasant activity.

"Hey Bella! How _are_ you?" Jessica cooed.

"Hi Jessica," she said.

"So, oh my gosh! What is the deal with you and Edward Cullen? Are you guys, like, _dating?_ That was quick."

"Um, I don't… I… maybe," she conceded. "I guess."

"Maybe? _Maybe?_ He looks at you like you're Angelina Jolie. Well, has he asked you out yet?"

"He came over last night. We went for a walk."

Jessica squealed, which brought the teachers attention and the end of their conversation until after class. Bella was just waiting for the ambush and hoping I would meet her after class, but it was too good for me to interrupt.

"So, do you like him?" Jessica asked the moment the bell rang.

"Edward?" Bella asked.

I saw Jessica give an impatient gesture in Bella's mind.

"Who wouldn't," she said, not particularly wanting to go into detail with Jessica, knowing that several people were listening in.

"Well, do you think he likes you?"

_Love at first sight,_ echoed in Bella's mind, but she tried to put Jessica off again. "I don't know."

"So are you going to ask him to the spring dance? It's only three and a half weeks away, and it's girl's choice, so the guys aren't supposed to be asking. Some of them do anyway, of course. But you're going to ask him, right? I mean, right?"

_Dancing? Oh no, no, no, no, no. Me and dancing is a bad idea. It's a really bad idea._ I was treated to a brief fantasy of Bella tripping over her own feet, knocking me into a punch bowl which then somehow spilled on her, and then finally ripping her dress while the entire school looked on and laughed. They were pointing, while they were laughing.

"Probably not, no."

"What? You have a chance to go to the spring dance with _Edward Cullen_ and you're not going to even ask him? Bella, seriously. It doesn't look like he's going to turn you down if you ask. You are like, made of _win,_ Bella. You have no idea what a big deal this is."

"There's plenty of time, Jessica." She still had no intention of asking me. I'd have to explore this later with her. I kind of liked the idea of going to the dance with her, and I had enough grace for both of us.

Thus the conversation went all the way to Spanish class, Bella's last class before lunch. When the bell rung after that class, I was waiting outside before she emerged. Jessica walked out of the classroom just ahead of Bella, saw me, and then looked back to smirk at Bella.

"See you in gym, Bella."

"Yeah, I'll see you there…" but she trailed off when she caught sight of me.

I smiled, and she smiled in return. When I reached out to take her hand in mine, her fingers laced through my own easily, without any of the hesitation from before.

We walked to the cafeteria building in silence and stopped by my usual table to put our things down. Bella shyly greeted the rest of my family who had already arrived and gotten what food they were going to get today before we moved off.

"What are you hungry for today?" I asked, grabbing one tray as we went through the line, still holding hands. I placed the tray halfway between us on the rail, to signify that it was ours, shared.

_Hmm, what is there? Oo, grilled cheese and tomato soup._

I started reaching for it before she could say anything. I had two bowls of soup and two sandwiches on the tray before she could get the words out.

"How… How did you know that's what I wanted?" She tugged on my hand slightly.

I looked back at her and grinned. "Maybe I can read your mind. What do you want to drink?"

_Milk, _she thought, her brow furrowed into a stubborn look.

I kept grinning and looked away as I flipped open the cooler and dug out a carton of skim milk.

I heard her gasp, but she was so shocked she didn't notice I paid for lunch and walked with her out of the line until we were halfway across the cafeteria. Then she stopped and I felt her tug at my hand. I stopped and turned to look back at her, tray held in the other hand securely.

"Can you seriously, I mean…" she said softly as a beginning, and then continued in her thoughts. _Can you read my mind Edward?_

I played around with several different responses before I settled on a simple, "Yes."

I tugged on her hand so we could at least make slow progress over to my family.

_Can you read everyone's mind?_ Bella asked incredulously.

"Mmm-hmm," I confirmed.

_Could we have an entire conversation like this? _Her face displayed her shock.

I nodded.

_Wow. Wait… Wait, have you been listening to me, like, a lot?_

I grinned and ignored her question for the moment. "Bella just made a discovery," I announced softly as we set the tray on the table and sat down together.

"What sort of discovery?" Alice inquired on behalf of everyone.

I put a finger to my temple, and acted as if I was scratching an itch.

"Oh, that," Alice said.

"Yea, that," Bella put in, wryly.

"You'll get used to it," Alice said. I gently put a spoon in Bella's soup and slid it to her. She started eating it without thinking.

"Just don't play chess with him," said Jasper.

"Or poker, for that matter," said Emmett.

"In fact, he's just awful to play with at all games of strategy and chance," Rosalie added.

"Why?" Bella asked, having not quite put it all together yet.

"He cheats," all four chorused at once.

Bella laughed and looked up at me, incredulous. "For real?" she asked.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, tearing up my grilled cheese sandwich into quarters, then eighths. "Of course not. It's not _really_ cheating."

"No, he just happens to know what everyone's hand is, and then uses the information to his benefit," Emmett said.

"Oh my gosh. You could make a _killing_ at a casino."

Everyone snickered as I tried to look innocent.

She stopped, her spoon halfway to her mouth. "Wait, _have you?"_

I shrugged and smiled.

"Did you get caught?" Her eyes were round and the spoon was forgotten.

"Of course not," Alice chimed in. "When you can read their minds, you know when they're getting suspicious. Then it's time to move on."

Bella was floored, but I couldn't tell if she was impressed or not. "Do your parents know about this?"

"We don't really have any secrets at home," I said. "Eat," I said.

She did, then looked up and noticed the state of everyone else. _Why isn't anyone else actually eating? They didn't yesterday, either. Oo, I'll try out the silent, one-sided conversation thing. Edward, _she addressed me, looking over at me. I gave her my full attention. _Why isn't anyone in your family eating? Are you going to eat?_

"We're all on special diets," I explained.

_But then why do you get food if you're not going to eat it? That's a waste. And hey, you paid for me. You didn't have to do that. Especially not if you're not actually going to eat, yourself._

"The teachers tend to ask a lot of questions, otherwise. It's just easier this way."

_Avoiding the scrutiny of adults. Well, I understand that._

"Exactly."

"So, how long have you been able to, you know?" she asked out loud.

"Ever since I can remember."

"Can you turn it off?"

"I'd never been successful doing it before, but I think I might have just learned a new trick," I said.

"What?" she asked.

I shook my head slightly. "I'll tell you later." I didn't want to say it in front of my family. I wanted that to be a slightly more private conversation between the two of us. Instead, I shifted her sandwich over to her and opened her milk, peeled the straw and stuck it in.

"You are not on a special diet, and you still need to eat."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Thanks, Mom." Her tone was not lost on me. _I know how to eat lunch, Edward._

All four snickered at her reprimand, but she blushed.

_Oh my gosh. I didn't intend for you to hear that. Oh, this is so embarrassing. I so wish you could not read my mind._ She started to realize that every thought she'd had of me, I had mostly likely heard. Everything about me being beautiful, my family being rich, wanting to kiss me, everything flooded back to her. She dropped her head and let her hair fall like a curtain between us.

I shifted so I could face her, straddling the bench we were on, my legs open wide so that my left one was behind her and my right alongside of hers. Then I drew her hair back and tried to tuck it behind her ear, but she had so much of it and she remained stubborn with her face down, that it didn't work well. I drew her hair back again, but this time combed my fingers through it and held it back myself, my hand on the nape of her neck. I watched her shiver and draw a deep breath.

I leaned in so I could speak softly, directly to her ear, giving her a sense of privacy. My lips brushed her earlobe as I spoke.

"Bella. There's no need for you to be embarrassed. I can read everyone else's mind here, and they are all, this table aside, tedious, boring, insane, pedantic little things. Most of them embrace a sort of casual cruelty that you wouldn't believe. Most of them are incredibly self-centered. And then, there's you. You are _beautiful_ inside and out. Your mind is so interesting, so fascinating, it's such a haven. Bella, I sink into your mind and for the first time in my life I don't have to hear anything else. I'd never been able to turn it off, to escape the voices before, until I met you. Please, _please_ don't begrudge me your mind, not when it's so beautiful.

"I wish I could explain to you what it's like, not just to hear your thoughts but to be in your mind, to fall into it, to feel it wrap around me –"

_Are you there now, like that? _She asked, interrupting me, though I paused only slightly.

I intentionally sunk into her mind for the first time that day and I groaned a little at the delicious feeling. I didn't even notice that the background din faded away.

"I am now," I whispered, enjoying the feeling of my lips brushing against the edge of her ear. "I wish I could tell you what it's like."

_Try._

I felt her hand and its blazing heat rest on my leg, on the middle of my thigh. I gasped at that. "It's like…" I found myself gasping for another breath. "It's so close. It's so… intimate. It's like being inside of you."

I was instantly gifted with an image of us having sex, of me penetrating her, of being inside of her in that way.

"That's not what I meant," I whispered in a rush, unable to keep from smiling. Still, I was having a hard time controlling my breathing.

Her hand tightened on my thigh. _Oh my gosh, you saw that?_

I put my free hand over hers, right hand over right hand, and let my fingers slip between hers. I was quick to reassure her. "But maybe it's like that. I don't… I wouldn't know."

_You mean, you're a virgin, too? Oh my gosh, no. You don't have to answer that. Forget I asked. I didn't mean to ask. Don't answer._

"You are the first person I've ever been interested in," I whispered. "So the answer is yes."

_Oh._ I waited as she drew a shaky breath, in and out, and then again. _We only met yesterday. Is it bad that I really want to kiss you?_

Now I was back to having trouble breathing. "I hope not, because I feel the same way."

_Will you kiss me, Edward?_ Her hand was kneading my thigh and it felt so good.

"Yes," I whispered, but it seemed to come out as more of a hiss. I gave myself an extra treat and with agonizing slowness dragged my lips down along her jaw as she raised her head by degrees. I breathed in the deliciousness of her scent, but there was no burn, and no venom, so deeply was I wrapped in her mind. It intoxicated me nonetheless. I stopped at the corner of her mouth, lingering, drawing out the moment inexorably.

_Edward, _she whimpered, and I bit back the moan that the flutter of her needy thought instinctively brought up.

And then my lips gently pressed against hers. Her eyes were closed, so I closed mine as I wallowed in her mind and her scent and the feel of heat at my hands and my lips.

_Cold, so cold, _she thought, gasping a little at the sensation, but then she exhaled, her lips still slightly parted and I was undone. I took in her breath like it was blood and my tongue darted out to taste her lips. Delicious. I was getting hard, but I didn't care. I suppose that's why Alice had me wear the tan suede jacket today – buttoned, no one would notice.

Bella made a tiny, beautiful little noise in the back of her throat and her tongue came out and slid against mine, tip to tip. Bliss.

_Oh my god, Edward!_

"Stay away from my teeth, they're sharp," I murmured against her lips just before I opened my mouth a tiny bit more, tilted my head so my nose wouldn't bump into hers, and pushed my lips against her again, and this time our tongues met.

_Teeth. Sharp. Edward. Yes. Yes, more, please, more…_

Her thoughts were disjointed, but mine were hardly any better. The sensation of her tongue sliding over mine as I pushed gently into her mouth, slipping, sliding, darting forward then retreating back again was the most sensational, physically pleasurable thing outside of blood soothing the burn in my throat. I could kiss her forever. I wanted to kiss her forever. I successfully ignored the insistence in my groin that suggested there were other things besides kissing that could be done, also forever, and dedicated myself to the moment.

Bliss beyond bliss were the little sounds she made as our tongues darted back and forth, sliding against one another. Her scent, which seemed to be changing, becoming deeper and darker, somehow, made my head reel. I wondered if this was what it was like to feel drunk. There were no words in particular that stood out in her mind, but there was the feel of it, comfortable and warm, and thick around me and so very _Bella._

I hadn't yet even really begun to kiss her, to memorize the strands of muscle in her tongue, the ridges in her mouth, her teeth, her lips, when I felt the strong tap on my shoulder, and the sharp call of my name out loud from Emmett.

Without thinking I whipped my head around and snarled at him.

Emmett was unfazed. "You're gathering undue attention, little brother. Bring it down a level."

I turned back to Bella, taking my hand from the back of her neck, and picking up the hand that held my thigh so wonderfully. I held her hand with both of mine, and looked up into her eyes. "I'm sorry. It was very rude of me to kiss you like that, in public."

She raised one eyebrow and took a deep breath. _Yes, and you can tell how much it upset me. Hated every minute of it. Did you really just growl at Emmett?_

"Yes," I said, making the statement half question, as I really wasn't sure how much of that I wanted her to know. Rather a lot had just happened.

_It was kind of sexy._ I watched her clench her eyes shut as she expressed the wish she hadn't just thought that.

"You don't wish you hadn't thought it, you just wish I hadn't heard," I said, the grin growing slowly on me.

_This is __**really**__ weird._

"You really think so?"

_What that this is weird? Of course it's weird!_

"No, not that. Before."

_Huh?_ She asked as she thought back. _Oh, you mean the fact that you can apparently growl quite convincingly, and that I… might… possibly… find it slightly… sexy?_

I grinned wider. "Yes, that part."

_Maybe._

I was dying to tell her that I could purr, too, but I decided to save that for later, when my family wasn't around watching us like dinner theatre. I had no doubt that they were successfully reconstructing her questions based on my answers.

_Oh, you like that too much, Edward Cullen._

"No," I corrected her. "Just enough." My eyes flickered to her food. "You done?"

"Strangely, I'm not hungry any more," she said.

I snickered then, too, right along with everyone else at the table.

_Oh my god, your family just watched the two of us make out._

I squeezed her hand ever so gently and then reached out for her milk and pushed it towards her. "Don't worry. I've had to listen to them for ages."

_How… how weird! For them and for you!_ She seemed to pick up the milk without thinking and started to drink from the container. She thought it novel that she could speak to me and drink at the same time.

"Yes, now you know why I like to go for nice long runs in the rain."

"That's not the only reason," muttered Emmett.

Bella glanced over at him, the question on her face and in her thoughts.

"Ignore him," I commented.

"It's time," Rosalie said, and rose up from the table.

I couldn't believe it. None of us wore watches, because none of us ever lost track of how much time had passed, but for the first time in my life, I had. I could have sworn that I had longer.

How long _had_ I been kissing Bella?

I rose and held Bella's raincoat for her as she put it on, then handed Bella her bag, holding it for her as she slipped it on one shoulder. I buttoned my jacket over my erection and slipped out of the cradle of her mind, sighing as the mental din rose again. I picked up my books, but Emmett took our tray. I nodded at him, and he lifted a fist. I punched it, then picked up Bella's hand.

We walked in silence to Biology. As we came to our lab table and I passed her lab stool, I pulled it out for her. I waited until she put her bag on the floor, and then as she took her jacket off, I gently took it from her.

"I'll do it," I said quietly, and went to go hang it on a hook by the door.

"Thank you," she said quietly when I returned. Her eye caught my leather journal and my Spanish and math book and the slim folder that held homework assignments to be handed in. It was obvious to her that neither textbook was the biology book – wrong shape. "Do you-" but she caught herself, remembering that she could ask silently.

_Do you just not take notes? Ever? In any class?_

I shook my head. "No," I said quietly.

_**Ever?**_ She asked in disbelief.

I shook my head again.

_What kind of grades do you get?_ She was stunned.

"Perfect ones."

_That is so unfair._

I shrugged. Unfair was enduring high school twenty-three times. I learned nothing new here, except perhaps the extent to which teens can be cruel to one another. If it was new, I learned it on my own, or occasionally in a doctoral program. But that was neither here nor there. It was time to change the subject.

"Can I see you tonight? Will you go for a walk with me again?"

She took a deep breath as she nodded. _That would… yes. Yes. I'd like that._ She imagined us kissing again on her front porch, but her father would be able to see, so she moved us to the other side of her truck. That wasn't far enough away either, so then we were just inside the forest line, moaning the both of us, her hands in my hair, my hands on her hips.

I took a deep breath in, hoping to center myself, but the opposite occurred. Her scent washed over me and the pleasure it brought warred with the burn of my throat and the venom that pooled in my mouth. I clenched my teeth shut and my fists tight. I knew she heard my grunt, but there was nothing I could do about that.

_Edward – are you okay? Edward, what's wrong?_

I shook my head and concentrated on the burn. It wasn't anything I wasn't used to. This was fine. I had control. It was just my thirst. And then Bella put her hand on my shoulder. She was still speaking to me silently, but her words were drowned out by the steady thrumming of her heart. I'd never heard it so loudly before. It was… it was everything. It was thirst, it was passion, it was sex, it was blood. I imagined having sex with her then, right in the woods where she had us kissing. I would push her up against a tree, I would strip her naked, I would ravish her body. She would wrap her legs around me as I pumped in and out of her. She would moan my name silently and aloud. She would come, I would come, and as I did, I would sink my razor sharp teeth ever so gently into her neck and drain her dry. It would be the best of both worlds.

The horror of it was a tiny thing next to how much I wanted to lean over right then and say the words that would make her follow me out into the forest. I had no doubt that I could entice her to cut class, that I could persuade her to sneak out with me right now, leaving all our things. I could do it. I could lean over right now and whisper in her ear, and I could have her, utterly and completely in every way, her mind, her body, her blood. I could have everything.

I looked up at her, almost convinced to lean over, to say the words that would make her follow, but I saw reflected in the depths of her eyes my own face, the bizarre seductive monster I had become.

The tiniest fraction of sanity dawned upon me and I instantly plunged myself back in her mind, where I had promised to stay out of today, purely out of scientific interest.

And it was gone. I felt my muscles relax. I closed my eyes as the burn eased. I swallowed back the venom and leaned back. The desire to kill my sweet Bella had faded, but that only left room for the horror to envelope me completely, or nearly completely. My fist still clenched, I placed it on the table and moved to face the table. I tried to ignore Bella as I put my head down on my fist, my other fist held tightly on my leg, but I was deeply entrenched in her mind now, and there was no escaping her.

_Edward, my God! What was… What just happened? Sweetheart, are you okay?_

I whimpered almost silently at her endearment. I didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve her concern, and I certainly didn't deserve the superheated hand at the back of my neck, rubbing and scratching a soothing pattern.

I was a monster. Somehow, meeting Bella, falling into her mind, falling in love with her, I had forgotten. But it was so clear to me now.

How was I supposed to do this?

How was I supposed to last? And why, by all that was sacred, would Bella still want me once she found out?

The horror swept over me in waves, and then the shame. I desperately hoped that Alice didn't see what I had completely planned to do, so taken off guard was I, so out of control was I. I wanted to get out. I wanted to escape, but I could wait until the end of class.

I heard Bella open her biology book, but her hand never left me, which meant that she wasn't taking notes.

_Edward, clearly something just happened. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. That's okay. Whatever it was, the moment has obviously passed, and you're still here. You're still okay. Whatever it was, Edward, it's going to be okay. Shhh, it's going to be okay._

She crooned to me in her thoughts, staring down at her biology book, one hand on the back of my neck, fingers never still.

I desperately wanted to accept her comfort. I yearned for it, and yet I was so undeserving of it. I could feel my shoulders begin to shake and my breath came in quiet gasps. The shame was so overwhelming I was crying, only without the tears. I took refuge in the fact that while it was obvious my head was down, only Bella realized I was crying. Probably. I couldn't check. I didn't dare check. I would have to leave Bella's mind, and that wasn't safe. I wasn't safe.

_Oh, Edward, Edward…_ She wanted to hold me, only she couldn't. It was just as well. If we were in a place where she could, I would already be gone. _Edward, Edward, _she thought, ever so gently. She imagined holding me, then, and it was almost as good as the real thing. She tried several positions in her mind, but nothing seemed right until straddled me, kneeling, as I sat on the edge of her bed. She held me tightly, her arms up above my shoulders. Her hands cradled my head and neck as I sobbed on her shoulder. My arms held her tight, in her fantasy.

_Edward, don't cry. Don't cry, sweetheart, you're breaking my heart._ I took a deep breath at that and tried not to cry harder. I really was trying to stop at this point, but I had all my focus on the image she had in her head, the image at this point that I was desperately wanted to be true. Now, if she could hold me, I wouldn't run away.

_Shhhh, Edward, Edward… Whatever it was, it must have been bad. I know it must have been bad. _She rocked us gently back and forth in her imagination. _But it's okay now. You're okay now. You wouldn't be like this now, if you weren't okay. You're okay. You're okay._

And somehow, I was. She crooned at me some more, but it was helping. I was still a monster, but I was a monster tamed, so long as I could wrap myself in her mind. She held my cage, and my key. I took one more deep breath and my shuddering came to a stop.

In her imagination, she pulled away from me slightly as my head came up from her shoulder. _Better?_

I unclenched my fists and breathed deeply. I slowly rose from my semi-recumbent posture and mourned the loss of her hand, as she let it fall from my neck. But she kept it at my lower back. In her mind, she still held me close. I pulled my journal and my pen close to me, and opened it up. I wrote my response in it, to her, angling the journal so she could see as I wrote. _"Yes, thank you." _I paused before adding more. _"I appreciate you holding me," _I wrote, my pen pausing over the blank space before I could continue, could admit it on the page of even my private journal, _"and letting me cry on your shoulder. It helped. I'm calmer now."_

_Will you tell me what happened?_ She asked.

"_Never. Not ever,"_ I vowed on paper, and only hoped that I could keep my promise. _"Please don't ask. It's too," _but here again I paused, and then drew a single line through the last two words. _"Please don't ask."_

_Okay, I won't. I…_ she was at a loss for words. _Are we still on for tonight?_

"_Are you sure you still want to spend time with me, after this?"_ I wrote.

_Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, pull your head out of your butt right this instant._ Her words brought a small smile to my face. _Of course I want to spend time with you. Or have you not noticed that I'm head over— _but there she cut herself off.

I looked at her for the first time since I came to my senses in her eyes. I raised an eyebrow in question.

_I'm crazy about you. Duh. Hey! Were you faking? Your eyes are red, but there are no tears._

"_I can't produce tears, but I can cry."_

_You are a very strange young man, Edward Cullen._

"_I know."_

_But I like you anyway._

"_I know."_

_That's it? That's all I get? 'I know'?_ I felt her then, tug on the back of my jacket.

"_I adore you."_

_Well, that's alright then,_ she thought, and I finally smiled again.

***  
End Chapter 3  
***

...so, what say you? A passable story? Totally bloody unlikey? The niftiest thing since sliced bread? Come on, let me know! Unlike Edward, I can't read minds... You have to actually _tell me._


	7. Nothing Says High School, part 1

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P. The chapter title and first line of his journal came from her comments.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephanie Meyer, and I am grateful that she allows us all to play in the sandbox of her construction. Thank you, ma'am.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: I think we might be up to M for Mature at this point.  
**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

**Author's Note: **Tra la la! I'm having fun, aren't you? I've been sick of late, and not good for much more than writing. I am getting better, however, and I'll be back to work, soon. At which point, the frantic pace of my writing will have to slow, somewhat. But don't worry, I'm on chapter six now, steadily plugging along…

***  
Chapter 4: Nothing Says High School, part 1  
***

I wrote the date at the top of that page, the one that contained my responses to our conversation the class before, the hour I nearly killed my love. I wouldn't tear this page out of my journal. I wanted to remember. I wouldn't build a monument to the monster, but neither would I try to erase any trace, all reminders. Underneath, I began to write, still as firmly entrenched in Bella's mind as I could be while she was in Gym and I in Spanish class. I ignored the teacher, knowing she wouldn't call on me for the next week, and knowing that if we had to pair off, Emmett would let me know.

"_Nothing says high school more than pages torn from a notebook, passed along as tokens of affection__. __This I finally understand from my own experience. The beautiful Isabella Marie Swan knows that I adore her, partially because of pages torn from this journal, though it has been only twenty-six hours since I first saw her face for myself._

"_Twenty-six hours. I was hooked in the first hour, and gaffed in the second. Really, I must be exceptionally dense. Carlisle fell in love with Esme and made a split second decision while she lay dying in the morgue. Alice says she loved Jasper from the first moment she saw him, her first vision when she first woke up. Rosalie somehow fell in love with Emmett even as the bear was mauling him, as she saw him from across the field. Everyone else seemed to fall in love in the twinkling of an eye and from then on neither partner looked back. They knew from their first moment, and their first hour was the beginning of forever._

"_I, on the other hand, I seem to resist every good thing that is offered me. Why is that? But no, that is not entirely true. There is a part of me, for instance, that wants to believe I am not good enough for Bella, that there is something dark and twisted and utterly, irredeemably evil about me, and that part would wish for her own safety to push her away somehow. Yet I cannot. Whether it is an issue of lack of will to do this on my part or a complete avowal of selfishness, I cannot tell. I hope… I hope it is something else. My secret hope is that she will be my redemption, that she will bring out and strengthen all that is good and honorable in me. Where Carlisle has left of in the reformation of my character, Bella may pick up. He will always ever be my truest role model and the best of mentors. She is already my muse, my inspiration and my consolation._

"_Esme's words to Rosalie ring in my ears. 'There is no hurt in the world that she can endure that Edward cannot soothe. There is no pain in the world that Edward can feel that she cannot understand.' How true my mother spoke. Earlier today it was horrible. Overwhelming. And the moment the unthinkable was erased from my palate of possibilities, the horror and shame was so overwhelming… Had I been capable of such acts, significant self-harm would have been an option. Should I ever hurt her, I'll need to find a way. I couldn't ask my brothers, or the Denali's. There's always the Volturi, I suppose, but they are friends with Carlisle, so even they might not._

"_I could violate the Treaty. It wouldn't do Carlisle any good, but perhaps my death would reforge it, if there are any left who could do the deed. I suppose I would only have to wander down to their land to find out, and it would certainly be easier than Italy._

"_I hope it never comes to it._

"_Bella, sweet Bella, was my consolation. In my worst hour when the monster raged, on the cusp of action to doom her life, and mine, she was steady. She was my anchor to ground me, she was my port in the storm, a safe harbor to envelope me in peace. In the security of her mind she held me as I sobbed out my utter shame and humiliation. She held me until the storm passed__._

"_Before, I would have left her if I could. I was counting the minutes until I could run away, and I don't know how far I would have gotten before my sense returned to me, before I realized that I could no more live without her than she could without me at this point. Would I have gotten all the way to Alaska? How long would I have stayed away, pushing myself until I snapped? What could I have done to beg for forgiveness on my return, to atone then, not only for my moment of weakness with her scent and our passion, but for my utter cowardice afterwards?_

"_Now, I could not leave her if I had to, if for some strange reason I must. Henceforth I will take her with me, or follow where she leads, until the ends of the earth. Never will I doubt her tender compassion. Never will I imagine that she cannot understand me. Never will I suppose that there is something we cannot endure, so long as we are not parted. I will never doubt Bella again._

"_Our passion together is something I had not anticipated. Having lived a life without it, or at least the last eighty-seven years of the overall one hundred and four, I didn't understand what I was missing. Perhaps if I had Jasper's gift, I would have. I had thought, before, with such simplistic certainty that our love could remain chaste indefinitely, but I know that not to be the case, now__. And yet, I cannot make up my mind. To say that I don't know what I want would be untrue. I know precisely what I want. I want a very short period of time in which our relationship begins to grow – for it will ever be growing – when we can come to a greater understanding of one another. Then I want us to be married, I want to do everything with her that she might wish to experience while human. And then, before she is twenty I wish to turn her into one of us. I believe that I could do it, if wrapped in the sanctuary of her mind. And then, after a year or so when she can finally think clearly again, we can open together the next chapter of our lives, discovering each other and the world anew._

"_Where sex and a sense of intimacy fit in there, I cannot say as yet. I would hope that we could consummate our marriage as any newly wedded couple could__. I have no sense of whether or not I could maintain the sort of control required to keep her safe, but I suspect that while suspended in the sanctuary of her mind it might be possible. And after that, I cannot imagine that our passion for one another would be quenched, but if I can control myself once, I can control myself however many times as necessary, until she is twenty._

"_But that is a Utopia I do not imagine will come to pass. As Esme pointed out, her graduation in fifteen months is the earliest time of great convenience. Anything before that would necessitate the staging of a tragedy, which would bring great pain and sorrow to her family, and thus to ours. I have no wish to create unnecessary pain._

"_An April wedding is out, then. Given that it is mid-February, eight weeks is the outside of what I would say I could stand, if all things were equal. I have a great desire to do things in the proper order__. The overture comes before the first act, and the finale should never happen before the intermission. We will wait until she is eighteen and graduated before we wed, for I have no doubt that if she is willing to stay with me, to join her life with mine in every other way, that marriage cannot fail to be simply one more satisfactory state, but will we wait another fifteen months before our passion leads us to fly apart in each others arms? Can we? Are we physically able__?_

"_I will of course, never trespass a boundary she maintains. Whether or not she remembers last night dreams, however, I do not think that is a boundary that makes much sense to her. As Rosalie has said, we are of different generations, Bella and I. Though I do not remember it, I grew up after the turn of the last century. Memories fail me, but my Edwardian sensibilities have somehow still been maintained__, ingrained deeper that fragments of scent and sound and sight. She was born in 1988. I have compact discs that are older than my love._

"_But time does march on, and the world around us changes, so subtly at first it is almost not worth noticing, until all of the subtle changes are being measured in quarters instead of pennies, and then quite suddenly, in twenty dollar bills._

"_It is why I read, I suppose. At first I read because I was a small town boy, even for having grown up in Chicago, and my worldview was as narrow as one might expect, and Carlisle… Carlisle was so knowledgeable, so well rounded. Carlisle could do anything, speak any language, heal any wound, charm any skeptic, speak on any subject. Carlisle knew history, mythology, religion and politics, the geography of lands of which I had not even heard, and the poetry of masters I did not know. And add to this, an infinite patience, a well of compassion that could water the world, in time. If I am, at the end of things, half the man he is today, I will have considered my life well spent. _

"_But I digress, perhaps because it bothers me to not know the solution to a problem with which I am faced. My desire is to marry quickly by today's standards, and so absolve myself of the question of intimacy before marriage, and yet even if we stole away and married in secret the day after her eighteenth birthday, I fear it would not be soon enough._

"_Though I suppose that depends on when her birthday lands in the year. This idea bears further scrutiny. It could be done in a day. We could fly to Las Vegas in the morning and return in the evening, and I could make love to her quietly, silently each evening as she lay in her bed, or steal her away to my home, cradling her in my arms as I ran through the forest. She could start attending the Cullen Family Camping trips, or so her father might believe, leaving the two of us to our own devices while my family hunts. We might wear our wedding rings hidden beneath our clothes, on chains around our necks. I would buy her the most exquisite engagement ring I could find, diamonds in platinum. Alice would help me look__. Perhaps I would wear my wedding ring on a different finger, just so I could look at it. The world would think that I asked her to be my wife on her eighteenth birthday, and no one would yet know that we married the next day. We could have a public ceremony after graduation, perhaps, with her family and mine in attendance. Perhaps then we would say that it had been a year, but perhaps that would remain closed knowledge._

"_If her birthday is in November, my sanity may not last._

"_But if this plan fails to please her, what then? I do not think, based on the passion of our kisses, that she will wish this to be the end of the advances of our intimacy. I certainly wish nothing of the kind._

"_If she were already one of us, if she were perhaps, the fourth Denali sister, or an unknown Nomad, or a survivor of the Southern States Newborn Wars, nothing would part us. We might spend, perhaps, the first seventy-two hours talking, the next three kissing, and the following ten years making love to one another, pausing in all of this somewhere to get married, and to occasionally hunt. But she is not one of us. She is human, and a minor not yet in control of her person. She must sleep eight hours of each day. She must eat every six hours. She must go to school, and do her homework and learn. She must laugh with her friends, and cry in her bed, read her books of tortured romance and take care of her parents. She has responsibilities that matter to her, that she cannot shelve so easily as I can, putting my life on hold for a decade or two if I wish. Because they matter to her, they matter to me__.__ It does no good to dream of a Universe alternate to our own, of possibilities so foreign and supernatural. Bliss has already entered my life, and I am forever changed. Truly, I do not lack for anything._

"_And so the intermission seems scheduled to precede the second act, instead of following it. In a dream scenario we could wait until marriage to become perfectly intimate, but in blissful reality, it seems that might not be the case. Truly, I do not think that the God who has redeemed me through Bella would damn me in the same breath. No, nothing so beautiful between the two of us could be damning at all. Henceforth I am convinced that such a doctrine could have only been a conspiracy of the ancient church to exert power over the populace, rather than the translated will of a benevolent god. I will think no more of it.__"_

The bell rang, though this time I knew it was coming, I had lost no time as I had earlier at lunch. I closed my journal and ignored Emmett as he tousled my hair.

"Have fun, Romeo," were his parting words, and they drew muffled guffaws from the students seated around us. I'm sure the drama of my life was greatly amusing to my classmates, but I wasn't in the mindset to care, and until Bella drove out of sight I had no intention of leaving her mind this afternoon. I took my books up and made my way to the Gym building, knowing that after Bella's torturous first day playing basketball and falling down no fewer than three times – twice taking someone with her – she wasn't rushing through the process of changing her clothes. She was lingering in a remote part of the locker room, avoiding the notice of the students she had plowed into.

I waited for her outside, ignoring the looks I gathered from all who passed by. Without actually checking, I would guess that the dinner theatre Bella and I had provided in the cafeteria hadn't been limited to my siblings. It only bothered me insomuch as it might bother her.

She emerged and a smile lit up her face when she saw me. _Edward,_ she seemed to sigh with pleasure as she thought of me. _Are you still listening in? _she asked, coming up to stand directly in front of me.

"Firmly ensconced," I replied, reaching up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.

She took my hand and we walked to the building that housed the student lockers. _Sometimes I think things automatically. You know. I guess I don't think before I think. Or, that is my thinking, and I just… I don't want you to be offended by something that I think that I wouldn't necessarily say. I mean, I'm not always a nice person. And I'm sarcastic, and I get angry and resentful sometimes. When I have my period __I'm moody and I take things too seriously and I lash out, and I'm irrational. I mean, nobody realizes it because I can put up a good front, but it's insane in here sometimes. I can't actually imagine why you'd want to be in here, too, but I just… you're perfect, and you're beautiful, and you belong to this perfect family, and I just can't help but think that if the deck wasn't stacked against me to begin with, this is going to be it. This is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back. As the latest shiny new toy, you may find me interesting at first, but sooner or later you're going to be in my head and something I don't censor is going to make you realize your mistake, and then I'm just never going to see you again. And it scares me, because I… already I… it hurts to think of what life might be like without you in it, already._

We were at her locker when she finished her rant, shoving books roughly into her bag. I tossed my books in her locker to free up my hands and pulled her bag from hers, dropping it to the ground. I took both of her hands in mine and kissed her knuckles one after another.

"I have a feeling that there is nothing I can say that will reassure you. I have a feeling that there is nothing I can do, no gesture that I can make that will convince you of my utter sincerity when I say that you, Bella, _are_ my world now. If it were socially acceptable, I would make all of my promises and vows to you tomorrow. I would. And I would mean them, and I would keep them until the end of time."

_Promises… Vows?_

"I have no doubt that your thoughts range from the bizarre to the extraordinary, from creative and beautiful to dark and twisted. But that is not something that I could ever find off-putting. I respect that your thoughts are your own to have as you wish, and I only ask that you not resent me for dwelling amongst them."

"That's not what I mean," she said softly.

"It's my only fear," I responded.

_It's not fair that you can read my thoughts and I can't read yours. I mean, you get me uncensored – all of the stuff I think about you that I would never dream of saying, all of… gosh, my flights of fancy _– at this I grinned hugely – _yes, yes, I imagine you would enjoy that, and what do I get? A cryptic boyfriend who tells me his teeth are sharp right before he kisses me senseless! It's a double standard, and I don't like it._

"Say that last part out loud," I said, and I think I might have started purring.

Her eyes narrowed. "It's a double standard and I don't like it." She sounded even more petulant in voice.

I growled just the tiniest bit and saw her eyes widen, smelled her scent deepen. "Not that part," I whispered as my head lowered slightly, slowly to I could reach her lips. "The part before."

"I get a cryptic boyfriend who tells me his teeth are sharp just before he kisses me senseless," she said with a breathy voice.

"Yes. You do," I said, breathing in her breath and swallowing it down. I shuddered and pulled back, bringing her hands back up, kissing her knuckles again instead.

_That was mean._

"Perhaps I should let you read my journals? I've kept them since I can remember. It's the closest thing to being in my head, though I can't imagine they're very readable except in instances of insomnia. Seems only fair."

"Ooo, can I start today?" she asked, releasing my hand and reaching for the journal I stuck in her locker, the one in which I had just recently mused on my wish for her to be a vampire, the one in which I had just planned out our lives from here until the end of time. I caught her hand before she reached it. "Not today," I said.

"Double standard," she insisted with some ferocity.

"Bella, I will make you a promise right now that at some point in the very near future you can have complete access to whatever journals I have. But there are one or two things that you still need to know about me for those journals to make sense. I can't grant you access until you know them."

"Okay. One or two things. I'm listening."

I should have guessed. I scrunched up my face and closed my eyes and heard her laugh at me.

_It's hard to stay annoyed with you when you're so adorable. Stop that._

"Bella… you are… _refreshingly_ straightforward." I sighed. "Give me my time and I promise you, you will know everything there is to know about me. Maybe… Maybe things you wished you didn't know."

That stopped her in her tracks, but her mind didn't instantly go to denials of the possibility. Instead, she instantly reviewed the observations she had already made about how I and to some extent my family, were different from normal.

_Skin: cold, hard, too pale. Eyes: wrongly hued, sunken with dark bruised circles. Voice: transcendent. Scent: incredible. Teeth: sharp. Temper: variable. Perfect grades, no studying. Old-fashioned speech patterns. Inhuman beauty. A family cobbled together, all the same age, no blood relation, yet so similar. Reads minds__._

_Edward… you're not… quite… __**normal**__, are you? That's what I would read in your journals, isn't it? That's what you want me to know, before I do._

I nodded, almost imperceptibly, suddenly terrified that this was happening all too soon, too soon for her not to want to run away no matter how much it might hurt us.

_And that particular flavor __of …not normal, that's what I have to find out._

I nodded again.

_And you're not just going to tell me._

I shook my head.

_I'm going to have to figure this out on my own, aren't I?_

"Yes," I said, finally speaking still hoping against hope that she wouldn't just write me off because I didn't have the courage to tell her, to simply say it directly.

"Okay, fine," she said, a challenge in her voice and her eye. "But you have to make me a deal."

I was instantly wary. "What are your terms?"

"Honesty. If I get it right, you have to tell me. Even if I get it on the first guess. And at that point I get my pick of your journals."

"At that point," I promised, "I'll sit you down in front of the shelf that holds them."

"And the first part? Are we agreed on honesty?"

"We are agreed. Sealed with a kiss," I said, leaning down quickly and pressing my lips gently against hers, before retreating again.

_You call that a kiss?_

I ignored her jibe except for the smile I gave her, but instead took my things out of her locker and pressed it closed. I took her hand up again and walked out to the parking lot.

_Edward, are you an angel__?_

I laughed with unintentional volume and looked over at her, the mirth still in my eyes. "No, love," I answered.

_Love? _She asked, her mental tone one of shock and wonderment.

"Love, hope, life, light, joy, peace, bliss," I whispered my litany into her ear as we walked. "You are all these things to me. And that you think I _could_ be an angel is perhaps the greatest compliment I will ever receive. For you I will try to be one."

She hummed in a happy sort of way. _Okay, not __**an**__ angel, but maybe __**my**__ angel._

"That, I won't dispute."

There was some silence while we finished making our way to her truck, the parking lot having partially cleared while we spent time talking at her locker.

She didn't lock the door of the cab today, so I opened it for her and held it as she tossed her bag in then hopped in herself. Looking up at her I couldn't help but to smile.

"You'll call me after dinner?"

She nodded, then reached out to grab the collar of my jacket, holding me steady as she leaned down to kiss me.

_A real kiss this time, please, Angel._

Our lips met and parted and the side of my tongue met and slid against the slippery slick surface of hers. In the relative privacy of her truck she didn't hold back the groan.

_Oh my god, Edward. You smell so good. You __**taste**__ so good._ Then she sucked lightly on my tongue as hers slid around it.

My growl, tiny and relatively playful that it was, was also out before I knew what was happening. Neither could I account for the fact that my free hand was now at the back of her head, fingers buried deep in her hair, but it made her scent waft deliciously around the two of us. I broke off the kiss, scared at my actions.

"Bella, you have to…" I gasped for air. "Tell me, if I ever hurt you. Sometimes I don't know my own strength. You have to. Promise me." My forehead was resting against hers.

_I promise, now growl at me again__._

My laugh was weak and incredulous, but I leaned into the cab until my lips brushed the outer shell of her ear. "I'm surprised it doesn't scare you. It's not meant to be a comforting sound, Bella."

_Maybe not. But this isn't that sort of growl. It's like you're marking territory, not fighting over food._

I was frankly surprised that Bella was satisfied with that rather patronizing imagery, but I didn't dare say anything.

_So are you going to growl at me, or am I going to have to wrestle you into submission?_

Tempting though the prospect was, I decided the better part of valor lay with the former than the latter. I growled ever so gently, _pianissimo_, stepping closer to press my chest against her arm so she could feel the vibrations, but I kept my lips by her ear, sustaining the growl gently, gently, gently.

She whimpered and sighed my name in her mind and aloud creating a harmony angelic to behold. Without realizing it, the growl became a purr, more rumbling and coming from a slightly different part of my throat.

Her hand left my collar and went to the back of my head. Her fingers clenched in my hair and her other hand came around to my shoulder as her body twisted in the seat. She slid sinuously out of the truck, her body consuming the slim space between my own and her vehicle. The hand on my shoulder slid around my waist and when I reached around to put my books on her seat, we were mirrored. Each left hand wrapped around the other's waist. Each right hand held the back of the other's head. I was too tall for her chin to reach over my shoulder, but when she looked up and I looked down our faces were side-by-side, my lips still by her ear. Holding each other tightly, pressed so closely from knee to shoulder to cheek, I knew she could feel my purring resonating throughout her entire body.

She took a gasping breath in and a shuddering breath out. I held her tight.

_Edward, Sweet Jesus, are you __**purring**__**?**_

I purred louder. I'd never had the occasion or the opportunity to purr this loud or this long, but now seemed to be the perfect time. I ignored for the moment the fact that I was growing perceptibly hard and that she could undoubtedly feel that fact. She had already dreamed of us having sex while I was handcuffed and only partially naked. Surely the fact that she aroused me utterly won't be offensive to her.

The scent that I was sure now marked her own arousal, that delicious darkening of what she normally smelled like, filled my nostrils.

I had to stop. I never wanted to stop, but I had to stop.

"You like that, huh?" I asked, whispering in her ear, no longer making my inhuman sounds of satisfaction.

Her exhale was a bit of a gasping laugh as she shifted her hips in a squirming motion against mine. My gasp was plain.

_No more than you do, apparently._

I released her, took my books and took a step back. I ran on hand shakily through my hair and watched her mentally undress me.

"_Bella,_" I said, my tone a warning. "Go do your grocery shopping. I'll see you tonight."

Not daring to tax my control further, I walked directly over to my family who were all waiting with varying smirks and grins on their faces. Even Rosalie sported an indulgent look.

We got in the car with the doors closed before we started. By this point, Bella was out of range and I could hear them perfectly.

"You can't do anything tonight, Edward. We're testing the condoms tonight," said Alice.

"_**What?**_" I think I might have yelled.

"The shit we do for you, Edward," Emmett groused.

"We'll tell you about it in the morning," Rosalie stated rather matter-of-factly. "But you need to behave this evening."

"Yeah. You know, me and Jazz, we were ready to sit you down and give you pointers," Emmett added, "But… it looks like you've got a pretty good instinct for it. Some guys do."

"You might _not_ want to growl at her, as that seems like the fastest way to make her want to peel your clothes off," Jasper said, his voice somewhat tense.

"Sorry about that," I said, thinking of how uncomfortable unresolved sexual tension was for my empathetic brother.

"No, you're not," he said flatly.

I half shrugged. He was right. Really, I wasn't even slightly sorry. Not even a little bit.

***

end part one, continue on to part two! And review before you do!


	8. Nothing Says High School, part 2

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P. The chapter title and first line of his journal came from her comments.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephanie Meyer, and I am grateful that she allows us all to play in the sandbox of her construction. Thank you, ma'am.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: I think we might be up to M for Mature at this point.  
**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

**Author's Note: **Tra la la! I'm having fun, aren't you? I've been sick of late, and not good for much more than writing. I am getting better, however, and I'll be back to work, soon. At which point, the frantic pace of my writing will have to slow, somewhat. But don't worry, I'm on chapter six now, steadily plugging along…

***  
Chapter 4: Nothing Says High School, part two  
***

_Edward, I know you're not going to like this, but if I'm going to get you condoms – should they be an effective tool – I'm going to need to know how large you are, _Alice thought.

"Alice!" I hissed.

_No, don't say anything. That just makes it awkward__. Tell you what. You can change your mind later, of course, but just take a moment now and firmly resolve to take a nice, long, hot shower tonight in order to bring yourself to full arousal as you imagine becoming intimate with Bella._

I was mortified, but I was also still hard, and it was easier for my mind to go there than I might have hoped. It bothered me immensely, but I decided to do it anyway. I would come back with enough time in the morning to… dear heaven… _masturbate_ in the shower. Enough time, indeed. I had no idea how long it took to masturbate. Still, I would do it.

_Perfect. Thank you, Edward. Feel free to change your mind now, I have all the information I need._

To hell with masturbation, anyway. This time tomorrow, give or take a few hours, I could be having sex with Bella.

Then again, I might not be.

Then again, I might be, with one or two well-placed growls.

It was incredibly gratifying to know that she found me as attractive as I found her, as alluring, as arousing, as irresistible.

"Thank you," I said in general, bringing my mind back to the present. "To all of you," I clarified. "For being so… supportive. And understanding."

"A hundred and four years, dude," said Emmett, as if it explained everything.

"It's a long time to be lonely," said Jasper, who had waited even longer. "We'll do everything we can to make sure it's a smooth path for you to walk."

"We love you, Edward. We want you to be happy," said Alice.

"Yeah. What they said," Rosalie added, patting my knee perfunctorily. I knew she meant it, though, or she would not have said anything. Rosalie was like that.

Condom testing. Huh. I somehow don't think that Carlisle and Esme were in on this one.

I pulled into the garage and we all poured out of the car.

"Who wants to go to Port Angeles to get condoms with me?" Alice called as she made her way to the passenger side door of Emmett's Jeep.

"Me!" called Emmett.

"I'll be back in time to select an outfit for your date with Bella, Edward."

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?" I asked, already in the living room and making my way up to the third floor.

"Trust me!" she called before she and Emmett pulled out of the garage.

I sighed in defeat.

I wanted to tidy my room. It was likely that Bella might actually see the inside of it sometime soon. Seven minutes later it was clean, sorted, and organized. I decided to go for a run, then, a real run to stretch my legs and see if there was anything palatable about. A small deer wouldn't be terribly satisfying, but it would tide me over, and it would change my eye color. I was eager to see what Bella would make of it, to see what her reaction would be. I had at least three hours. I could easily range up into British Columbia and back before she called.

And so I did. It was joy, but not the greatest joy. It was bliss, but not the most profound bliss. It was relaxing, but no longer comforting. Comfort was to be found only in the mind, in the arms of my beloved, as was the greatest joy and the most profound bliss. It was good for me that it was a short trip.

This weekend would be hell, I could tell. We were ranging far and there would be predators for certain, and possibly even my favorite prey, mountain lion. I had been looking forward to it earlier, but that was before Bella.

I could survive on deer. If people could survive on plain rice and plain tofu, then I could survive on tiny little musk deer until further notice. I wondered if I could get out of this weekend, or if they would drag me along anyway.

Oh, but they wouldn't need to force me, they would just need to set Esme on me. I sighed. It was inevitable. I just had to face it.

I was almost back home when my cell phone went off in silent mode. The electronic hum it made always changed so perceptibly when it received a call, I never bothered to turn the ringer on. I looked at the number, and yes, it was Bella.

"Hello, love. Done with dinner?"

"Hi, yea. Did you go for a run again tonight?"

I laughed. "Yes, I did, actually. It does a body good."

There was silence on the other end of the line for a very long moment, then Bella simply responded, "Right," but I could tell that she was grinning. Then she added, "Are you… um, you know, can you um, _hear me_ from this distance?"

"No, I'm just getting back home now, why?" I ran up the stairs to see what Alice had laid out for me and to studiously ignore that apparently, Condom Testing had already begun.

"Well, I'm glad."

I groaned. "Bella, you _have_ to tell me what you're thinking."

She laughed out right at me then. "I do not have to tell you anything of the kind."

I groaned again. "This is torture."

"I could hang up," she snarked.

"No! That would be worse."

She giggled.

"What the hell?" I muttered, looking at the clothes Alice had laid out for me.

"What?" Bella asked.

"My clothes. Alice picks them, and these—"

"Wait, your sister picks out your clothes for you?"

"Alice has her way with everyone's wardrobe. She's good at it. We humor her. Just wait. It's only a matter of time before she gets her claws into yours as well."

"I resent that!" I heard Alice call up from the second floor, loudly enough so that Bella could pick it up just slightly on the phone.

"Focus, Alice," I then heard Jasper growl much more softly. Alice then started cooing at her husband again, and I turned my mind back to Bella.

"Your family is a trip," she said.

"You have no idea," I replied.

"So, what's wrong with the clothes she picked out for you?"

I debated whether or not to say. In the end I did it, anyway. "They've come with instructions. They've never come with written instructions before."

Bella was laughing quite a lot, now.

"Little notes, pinned to my shirt and jacket. And apparently I'm forbidden to wear my green doc martins again, until further notice. She can be a feisty little pixie. She was annoyed with me that I wore them this morning, but I braved her displeasure and did it anyway."

"Well, that explains why you are all dressed so nicely all the time. I figured that your mom just taught you well, or something."

"No, Alice dresses Esme, too."

Bella laughed.

"It's not that bad. I mean, she takes into account our personal preference, but it does make life easier. And she enjoys it."

"So what is she having you wear, tonight? Gosh, that so weird. Isn't that weird? Your sister picked out your clothes for your date."

Condom Testing Night was much farther down on the same scale of what my family was willing to do for the success of my relationship with Bella, but I decided not to mention it.

"Well, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you? I'll be over in a few minutes."

"Alright. See you then. Bye."

"Goodbye, Bella."

I hung up and ripped the pins out of my clothes. 'Keep untucked.' That one was attached to the plain, blue, lightly starched oxford. I noticed that Alice had ripped off the bottom two buttons. Feisty pixie, indeed. 'Do not roll the hem.' That one was attached to the dark blue bootcut jeans that I knew would end up brushing the floor, even with boots on. I hated that. And the waist was an odd cut. These would end up hanging on my hips, slightly lower than I was used to. There was a pair of black solid boots that laced past my calves, and my grey short cut peacoat. 'Only button after.' That was the note attached to the peacoat. No umbrella, but then again, I thought we might walk through the woods.

I hopped in the car and was there before long. I wished I knew exactly why Alice had been so strict. She must have been looking more closely at my future than I had realized, weighing alternatives – what would happen if she took off one button, what would happen if she took off two?

I didn't need to knock on Bella's door, as she was looking out for me. She called out her goodbye to her father and I met her at the bottom step to her porch.

_Well don't you look like sex on a stick? Oh God! Just forget I said that. Thought that. Whatever. Wait, maybe he didn't hear. Did you hear that, Edward?_

I grinned at her. "You look lovely this evening as well, Bella." I took the moment to sink into her mind and felt the delicious shiver up my spine.

She looked down at herself and snorted. _Whatever. I did try, though._ "I'm sure if _Alice_ dressed me…" she trailed off, her tone ironic.

I laughed, and she joined me.

"Shall we take a walk in the forest tonight?" I asked, already guiding her to the path behind her house.

"Sure, sounds good. Just so you know, I don't have the best coordination."

"I have coordination enough for the both of us."

She looked up at me then, and noticed my eyes.

_Holy shit! They really are gold. Or, sort of a topaz, really._

We stopped our progress, still in sight of the house and not quite to the forest's edge so she could observe the color change of my eyes.

_They're so beautiful. _

Her thoughts stopped then, and she just stared in my eyes. I didn't mind. I stared right back.

Eventually we kept walking, and I took her hand in mine. The heat was welcome.

_How is it they turn such colors? Is that part of the… thing… that I'm trying to guess?_

I nodded.

_Is it just black and gold, or are there other choices?_

"It's possible for my eyes to turn red, but I choose not to let that happen."

"You choose?" _What do you mean, you choose? Is it just, like, a mental decision and then your eyes change?_

I shook my head. "The color is… based on behavior." A sudden thought hit me. "Bella, if you ever encounter someone… someone sort of like me, but their eyes are red…" I trailed off for a moment.

_Run?_

"No. You won't have time to run. You wouldn't get far. Scream my name." She needed a cell phone. I wondered how I'd be able to work that into the conversation.

_You'd be able to hear me?_

"Maybe, if I'm close enough."

_What's close enough? Are we talking like, Superman, here?_

"Not quite," I smirked sadly.

_So, whatever you are, whatever your family is, there are varieties of you that are not so nice, from whom I would want to run, but wouldn't be able to get far, but from whom you could rescue me, if you were close enough. Are we in the Twilight Zone?_

I smirked. "Maybe, but if so, we've always been there."

_Are you an alien?_

"No."

_Are you sure?_

"My biological parents were humans, Bella, I promise you."

_Where were you born?_

Chicago.

_When were you born?_

If I had a working heart, it would have clenched. "June 20th."

_What year?_

"I'm seventeen, Bella, just like you."

She bought it, for a moment. _Hey, you're being evasive. What year?_

I wasn't sure I could do this.

_Edward, is this a big deal?_

I nodded. Couldn't she just keep asking me yes and no questions for which I could simply nod or shake my head?

"You can tell me, Edward. I know there's something about you that isn't quite like everyone else. It's okay." She stopped us, then, and stood in front of me. She put one hand gently on the side of my face. _So cold. Always so cold, my Edward._

Her Edward. It gave me courage.

"What year were you born, Edward?"

"1901," I said.

Her eyes went wide. _Holy Crow. That means… a hundred and four is __**not **seventeen__, Edward! But you look seventeen. How do you look seventeen?_

"I'll always look seventeen."

Then the rest dawned on her.

_I'm not always going to look seventeen. _She went completely still then, for a human. I guided her to a log so she could sit down, and I sat next to her, holding her hands. Her mind was blank, but if her face was anything to go on, she was horrified by the thought that I would look seventeen forever and she would not. Why couldn't I have forseen the conversation going this way? I was an idiot.

_Are we… can this… Are we just going to date for a while, then, and when I start too look too old for you, that's it? I mean, if you don't get tired of me, sooner than that._

"No, Bella!"

_What then, you're still going to want me around when I have laugh lines and skin cancer?_

The thought of Bella getting hurt twisted my insides.

_Or were you planning on sharing your elixir of youth with me?_

Now we come down to it. "If you want it."

_What do you mean, if I__** want**__ it? No, wait, don't answer that. I need to think._

But she wasn't thinking. Her mind was utterly blank. She was waiting, it seemed, but I gave her the time. We sat on the log in utter silence for four minutes.

_Sharp teeth, pale skin, doesn't eat, inhumanly beautiful, _she finally thought. It made her think of "The Vampire Lestat," a novel she'd read on a recommendation last year, but hadn't particularly enjoyed. She found Lestat to be selfish, petulant, and somewhat annoying. There was a part of me that marveled that she could find Heathcliff more endearing than Lestat, but perhaps I was biased.

"You're a vampire, aren't you?"

"Today in Biology," she continued on. "You were having a little… moment, weren't you? And then you hated yourself for it. And your family, you're a group of vampires. Like… like a coven, or something. Only, you're good vampires. Charlie has raved about your dad. He's a good man. A good doctor. But there are some… that aren't. The bad vampire of legend and, and literature… they exist too, don't they? But I wouldn't have a hope of running away from them, even if I wasn't almost so clumsy that I'm disabled."

Suddenly she laughed.

"That explains why most of your family is paired off! You're not actually related."

I wanted to smile at that, but I couldn't quite do it. She paused then, so I spoke.

"We are related. Sort of. Alice and Jasper are the only ones who are adopted, but really, Alice adopted us. They joined us in the fifties. Carlisle made the rest of us in the twenties. I was the first, in 1918."

"So, I'm right." _You are a vampire._

"Yes," I whispered, looking down at our hands. Then I looked up at her. "Are you afraid?"

"No," she said simply. "Should I be?"

"Yes, Bella, you should be."

"Why, are you planning on hurting me?"

"No, never!" We both thought of the moment in Biology, but whereas it brought me shame because it occurred, it brought Bella comfort because it stopped.

"Well then, what's your problem?"

"I've lived a long time, Bella. I've… done things. Things I'm not proud of. There was a time when my eyes were red," I whispered. "There was a time when I couldn't follow Carlisle, even though I knew him to be sincere. And I… well, I rationalized it. I could be the murderer of murderers, feeding only off the dreck of society. I could pick them out by their thoughts, their memories," I whispered, my eyes closed tightly. "I could take the ones that were proud of their kills, the ones who luxuriated in making their fellow humans suffer before they raped them, before they murdered them. The ones that had never been caught, might never be caught, the ones who would keep on murdering if I hadn't killed them first.

"And then one day I realized I was just like them. I was proud of my kills. I didn't try to make it quick and as painless as possible – I didn't mind if they suffered. And worse, I thought I was doing right, feeding off the bottom, but really I was just playing God.

"I haven't tasted human blood in seventy years, Bella. But that doesn't mean I don't want it, every day. Human blood is different from animal blood. It's richer, thicker… It… it satisfies every desire. Animal blood sustains, but it's far from satisfying. I guess it might be like eating plain tofu when you're used to steak and bacon. Drinking the blood of animals… Bella, I'm _**always**_ thirsty. But… When I'm in your mind, really in deep, it's different. It allows me to be this close to you, to touch you without fear, to hear your heartbeat without wanting to devour it. When I'm in deep, the burn in my throat is eased, the haze of my bloodlust lifts, and I can…" I broke off. "I can simply desire you, as a man desires a woman."

"You have my monster under lock and key, Bella, but it still exists. And I'm terrified that one day he'll break his cage." I could barely continue, but I had to. My words were barely a whisper now. "I couldn't stand it if I hurt you. You have no idea how easy it would be, if for one thoughtless moment I forget how fragile you are, how easily your skin bruises and tears, how easily your bones snap. Compared to me, Bella, you are as fragile as a soap bubble. I have to be so careful. So very careful."

I rubbed my thumbs over her hands and finally looked up at her.

"You have every reason to fear me. You should, you know. I have no idea why you don't, instinctively. Everyone else does. They don't understand it, but somehow deep down, they know when the predators have entered the room."

All the while I had been speaking, her mind had been silent as she absorbed what I was saying, silent as she took it all in. Her mind was still silent, but she spoke to me, picking the words seemingly out of the ether as she said them.

"That's a lot. And I don't have much of a basis of comparison. But I don't fear you, Edward. Obviously, I don't. And I get that you are dangerous, but you're not dangerous to me. And even with that possibility… I still, I need to be with you. I would rather die than not be with you. And I get that it's insane. But it doesn't make it less true."

"So the lion fell in love with the lamb," I said.

"What a stupid lamb," she pointed out wryly.

"What a sick, masochistic lion," I replied.

We were silent then, for a very long time. We held each other's hands and sat on the log in the forest, just letting the sounds of nature filter through our somewhat shared consciousness. I let myself go, let myself relax in the embrace of her mind, as relatively silent as the forest around us, with only the shapes and the forms of her desire for me, her pleasure at being with me, and her hope for me to experience peace as nebulous companions.

Eventually, she broke the silence. I could tell she was trying to lighten the mood.

"So this explains why you don't have to pay attention in class. How bored are you, as a rule?"

"Before you?" I asked. "Very bored."

"And now? Slightly less boring?"

"Slightly," I conceded, smirking at her.

I watched in fascination as she took one hand, balled up her fist and tried to punch me in the shoulder. She only hurt herself.

"Ow! What are you, made of marble?" She flexed her wrist, and I took it in both of my hands and examined her wrist and fingers, ever so gently. She hadn't broken anything, thankfully.

She reached up with her other hand, and with a single finger, pressed against my lips. My lips, of course, did not yield to the pressure of her finger. Her brow furrowed as she moved her finger on, over my cheekbone, down past my jaw, to my neck, where all four fingers joined in as she pressed, moving her fingers up and down.

_Your skin – it doesn't move at all. I mean, I thought you just used your hands a lot and that's what made them hard, and your lips seem so soft when you kiss me, but… I mean, can you even feel this?_

"You can push as hard as you want. It will still only feel like a gentle touch, to me."

_What if I use my nails?_

"You can try, but don't hurt yourself," I muttered. I closed my eyes while she experimented on my skin. The sensation of her nails scraping down my neck made me gasp in surprise, and shudder. She froze.

_I'm sorry. _

"Don't be. It felt nice."

_Really? So you could feel a difference?_

"Definitely," I stated.

_So then, maybe there's a difference between this,_ she thought, dragging her fingertips up and down the column of my neck.

She slid off the log and my hands went to her waist to steady whatever maneuver she was attempting. It was a little cumbersome, and she really wasn't very graceful at all, but in a moment she was kneeling in front of me, in between my legs. Our faces were almost level.

_And this,_ she added, leaning in to press her lips against my neck where her fingers had just been. Her hot breath fanned out across my skin, and it felt like little flames licking against me.

_Well, is there a difference?_

"Yes," I ground out.

_Which one is better?_

"They're both nice," I said on a short breath. "I like it whenever you touch me."

She rubbed her nose up and down my neck, breathing, leaving a trail of little kisses up and down. I was in heaven.

_So then, what about this__? _She asked as she opened her mouth and breathed on me just a moment before her tongue flicked out, but it seemed like an eternity of hot flames branding my neck in the most exquisite fashion before the wet heat of her tongue danced on my skin. I shivered again

_Good?_

"Mmm-hmm."

_What about this? _I gasped as she dragged her teeth down the side of my neck from just under my ear to as far down as she could nuzzle into my collar, just where my neck met my shoulder. When she got there, she lapped with her tongue and I could feel it, wide, flat, its silken and wet heat burning into my skin.

_You taste __**so **__good. __**So good**__**.**_

When her lips sealed over my skin, and she sucked in, her tongue working gently over the area and her teeth pressing tightly against my skin, I lost it. I came to an incredible hardness instantly, as if that particular spot had a line straight to my groin. My head fell back and I released Bella, one part of my mind still alert and afraid of hurting her. My hand gripped the log next to me. I moaned her name.

_Good?_

"Yes," I hissed.

_More?_

"Yes," I hissed, softer.

She came a little closer then, edging forward on her knees, and both of her hands went to my waist, only, with my shirt untucked, two buttons missing, and the waistband of my jeans clinging to my hipbones, her hands found their way to the bare skin of my stomach very easily, and then we both moaned. My stomach clenched involuntarily and I felt her light touch trace the musculature, explore my navel, traverse over to the sides. She paused by my hips, tracing the valley on each side, with each hand, between my abdominal muscles and bone that protruded slightly, announcing the presence of my hip.

_Sexy,_ was her only thought.

She had not yet grown tired of her little experiment at my neck, and I had long since past smelled her own arousal in the air. She was apparently enjoying this as much as I.

Her hands, now at my back, traced patterns, and then she scraped her nails against my skin.

I growled and sprang forward, wrapping my arms around her like a protective cage. We landed a few feet away, on fallen leaves and pine cones just off the path. I rolled her so she lay on top of me, and rested my hands gently at her waist. As Bella got her bearings she gave me an unfathomable look and started laughing at me.

_What the hell was that?_

I took it as a rhetorical question.

I looked deep into her light brown eyes and sighed. "You don't know how long I've waited for you."

_A hundred and four years, give or take?_

"Will you marry me?" I asked, before I knew what I was doing.

She looked bemused. "Sure." _Eventually__,_ she added.

"Will you join me?" I brought up a hand to her throat and rubbed one finger against the pulse that I could feel. "Will you let me change you, eventually? Stay with me, forever?"

_Duh!_

It was clear to me that she couldn't possibly know what she was getting herself into. None of us did, even the few of us that were offered the choice to make consciously when other equally viable options were also still available. But it was also clear to me that I couldn't live with out her, and if she was willing, I wasn't going to make an effort to change her mind.

What major decision do any of us make, after all, fully understanding what the future is going to look like, what will be required of us, because of that one choice? Who, outside of Alice, that is.

Still, I was elated. She could always change her mind, of course, but she now knew what I was, she hadn't rejected me, and she had declared her intention of being with me in every way. My life was officially perfect. God clearly loved me after all.

"When do you turn eighteen, Bella?" I asked as her lips hovered over mine.

"September. Why?" _Are you going to turn me the day before so we can both be seventeen forever__?_ She sounded hopeful, and her lips brushed over mine.

"No. But I could marry you the day after."

She drew back instantly. "What?"_ Isn't that just a mite soon? I mean, I mean… _

I was a little confused by her reaction. "I told you, I want to marry you, Bella."

_Charlie would flip out. Renee would have a cow._

I laughed. "Bella, marrying me will be the lesser of the two life changes. We could marry in secret, and you could finish high school, stay with Charlie. If I change you-"

"When!" she interrupted.

"_When_ I change you, there's going to be a discernable difference. And, you're not going to be able to be around people for a little while."

_How long's a while?_

"Maybe the first year. But if everyone thinks you're away at college, that won't be such a big deal."

_Hmm. Let me think about this__._

September. Of course, it would be September. If her birthday were any sooner, she'd be a senior this year, but that didn't help my plans. June would have been much more convenient. Oh well. It gave me more time to win her over to the Marry As Soon As Possible plan.

"I can live with that," I conceded to her thoughts.

"And now, you need to pay up." _The journals. You didn't think I'd forget about that, did you?_

Hm. Condom Testing was going on at the house tonight. It would have to be tomorrow. "Tomorrow after school. Can you plan to skip dinner with your dad? Will Charlie be okay with that?" Really, I just wanted her for the entire afternoon and evening.

She nodded. _No big. He'll just eat at the diner, like he apparently has every night for the last sixteen years._

"You can meet my parents. We'll order you a pizza," I said, smirking.

"Oh, the vampires don't have any food in the house?"

"Oh no, Esme goes shopping every week. But I doubt any of us could actually cook you anything. Though it is likely we do have cookware. I think the kitchen is fully stocked, just in case."

"Let me at least poke through your refrigerator before you go ordering a pizza. You can't cook, but I can."

I made a mental note to learn to cook. I was betting that Esme still remembered how.

"Why don't I just pick you up tomorrow, that way we can go straight to my house after school, and I'll drop you off tomorrow night, in time for Chief Swan to still think I'm the ideal boyfriend for his daughter." Please, please let her say yes. Please let me have at least one day's respite from my fears of her coming to grave harm in that deathtrap she drives.

_Sure. But um, could you not arrive until after Charlie leaves, if possible? The less he knows, the better. And the truck was a present. I wouldn't want him to think I don't appreciate it._

Hell. It was a present from her father? I'd never get her to give it up. Rosalie was my only resort, now. Now the only question was, how to damage the truck without Bella knowing I was responsible. I bet Emmett would have some creative ideas. Perhaps a tree could crush it?

"No problem."

_And now, to even more serious business,_ she thought, smiling and leaning down to brush her lips against mine. Her lips brushed once, twice, and then her tongue darted out to lick at my still closed but now smiling lips. She leaned up and looked at me, and then leaned back, placing her hands on my shoulders and pushing off of me, letting her legs slide to each side of mine. She wriggled around for a moment until she was comfortable, but her comfortable position included her legs folded up as she sat astride me just where I wished she wasn't.

Then again, it was a delicious sort of torture, so what the hell.

_Are you going to just lay there and grin at me, or were you planning on participating in this kiss?_

"I don't know," I said, my voice barely over a whisper. "You were doing such a good job of it all on your own, I didn't want to interrupt you."

_Well, if that's the case, then you don't mind if I just _– at this point her hands had trailed down and pushed underneath the hem of my shirt. She was looking at my exposed stomach and licking her lips. _Explore._

_God, Edward, you can't know what you do to me. Just being here with you makes me feel so good. Makes me want so much,_ she thought and shifted her hips restlessly.

I groaned. "If I do to you what you do to me, then I have a fairly good idea of what you're feeling, love."

"What do I do to you?" she whispered to me. Her face suddenly looked so fragile – not physically, but emotionally. Her fingers clenched against the skin at my waist as she held on to me.

"You comfort me, you inspire me, you give me a reason to flourish, instead of simply exist. And when we're close like this," I said, my thumbs making little circles on her hips, through her clothes, "you teach me about needing things I never knew I was missing. The scent and heat of your skin, your breath, teaches me about intoxication. The touch of your hand teaches me a new kind of logic. Your tongue against mine, on my body is music on an instrument that I'd never heard played. Your body against mine," and at this point I bucked my hips up into her slightly and was rewarded with a gasp as her head fell back. "Your body against mine, Bella, is bliss. It is heaven – perhaps the only one I'll ever know, but certainly the only one I'll ever need."

She collapsed on top of me, but caught herself on my shoulders and pressed her lips against mine. This time I yielded to her, opening my lips and slipping my tongue out to meet hers.

_Yes, yes, yes. That's it, exactly. Exactly, exactly, _she chanted as our tongues met and slid inside her mouth. She broke off the kiss, gasping, but her lips instantly slid to my neck and nibbled and licked her way to the juncture of my neck and shoulder, this time on the other side, though she gave it the same treatment as the first.

I groaned at the bliss that was the heat and pressure, the wet silk of her tongue contrasting with the sharp pressure of her teeth. Still, I knew exactly when she undid the first and second of my top buttons, presumably so she could get better access. But she didn't stop, and before long she had my shirt opened and shoved aside.

Her hands roamed up and down once, then traced my pectoral muscles, fingertips first, and then with her blunt nails, scratching in the slight crevices between muscle groups. Her lips and tongue were a trail of fiery heat, that once centered over one of my small pale nipples, I could not contain my action.

"Bella," I groaned aloud, as my body arched beneath her, my hips rocking into hers, once, twice, and then rhythmically over and over again. I couldn't stop. She didn't stop.

_Good?_

"Yes," I groaned.

_More?_

"Yes," I said, louder.

_Harder?_

"Yes," I said, my voice breaking. Now it sounded like I was begging. Which, I suppose I was at that point.

She switched sides, taking up the neglected nipple in her hot mouth, rolling the little bud over and over with her tongue, nipping it with her teeth, and rolling the wet one between her fingers, and in the brief moment that she moved, I came to my senses. It was Condom Testing Night, and I had already agreed to the idea that I should not have sex with Bella tonight, and if this wasn't having sex, I wasn't sure what was.

Then again, there was apparently a whole host of possibilities that two passionate and imaginative virgins could come up with in the process of mutual discovery that didn't include my penis penetrating her vagina.

Of course, there was always the possibility that at some point I would physically lose control and accidentally hurt her, but it was most likely, I thought, to occur with my hands. Maybe I shouldn't touch her at all…

But then I was lost again, as her mouth came back to my chest, and the rhythm of my hips did not falter against hers.

"Harder," I whispered, not daring to move my own hands. "As hard as you can, without hurting yourself."

I felt her nails scrape against me much harder then, her teeth bite down on my still unyielding flesh with a much more fierce pinch, and I felt her glorious hips roll into mine in time with my own. The scent of her arousal and the knowledge that she found me as stunningly erotic as I found her was sliding me over an edge and I wasn't sure where the ground was, anymore.

I was growling then, and it wasn't intentional. I think I even tried to stop, but I didn't seem able to do so.

_There we go. Mmm, that's what I was missing__._

My hands were in her hair then, only I don't remember putting them there. I clutched her head to my chest so gently my arms shook from trying not to hold her too tightly.

I wanted to tell her how much I loved her, how much I loved this, but it wouldn't come out. My eloquence had long since left me.

"Bella," I gasped. "Yes," I panted.

The nails of one hand trailed down the center of my chest, hard, and I was growling again, rocking more firmly against her, and faster now. Then her fingers slipped inside the waistband of my jeans, inside the waistband of my boxer briefs. Her hand was flat, the back against my abdomen. First her fingertips, then her fingers, then her palm touched and slipped and wrapped around my hard and straining cock. I faltered in my own motions, shocked at the heat of her hand, though I couldn't be shocked at the boldness of her actions, not when I was benefiting so well from them.

_Good?_

"Yes," I cried.

_More?_

"God, Bella, _please!"_

_Harder?_ She asked, even as she squeezed me tight, and bit down on me, and dug her nails into my side.

My hips jerked as I saw stars. I dug my hands into the soft earth on either side of her legs, not trusting myself. I was snarling as I came, my back arched, my hips off the ground, Bella's delicious weight astride me, her mouth nursing at me, her hand milking me as I rode out the waves of my first orgasm in memory.

As I collapsed back to the ground a gasped for breath, Bella let go and crawled up my body. Some of my ejaculate was smeared across her wrist, and she went to smell it, and lick it off, but I caught her wrist instead, rubbing it off and wiping it on my jeans. I left a streak of dirt on her wrist, but that couldn't be helped.

_Now why did you do that, you ungrateful man?_

"Bella, no," I said, my eyes pleading with her for forgiveness. I slid my fingers into her hair and pulled her gently down to me. I kissed her forehead, and her nose, and then her lips, tiny kisses, licking at her lips, kissing her cheeks, her closed eyes, and then back to her lips.

"Thank you, Bella. That was beyond my dreams. Thank you."

_Are you going to explain why you wouldn't let me taste it?_

"It might hurt you. I don't know. And I'm not willing to take that chance."

_Hmm. That's going to make sex very interesting._

"I'll buy condoms."

_Good. Make it a big box._

I smiled at her. "Yes, ma'am."

_That is exactly the right attitude to take__._

"It's getting late, love. I don't want your father to restrict us because he doesn't trust me."

"But we have tomorrow, right?" she asked.

I grinned at her. "Yes, we have tomorrow. And tomorrow, it's my turn to explore."

***  
End Chapter 4  
***

And… what say you? Good, bad, indifferent? Totally unworth the effort? As good as sparkly chocolate with extra sparkles on top? Do review and let me know, as I'm not Edward and can't read your mind. My beta likes it, bless her, but she's the only one about whom I'm certain.


	9. Several Levels, part 1

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P. Because she recommended that I take a hammer to the end of Chapter six, in order to get it out.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.  
**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

**Author's Note: **Another sick day, another chapter. It's a good thing I have leftovers from last night's biblestudy-potluck, or I'd starve.

***  
Chapter 5: Several Levels, part one  
***

She was restless tonight, but I was not in her room to see it with my own eyes. I decided that perhaps a tiny bit of distance while she was unconscious, and yet so kissable, might be the better part of valor. But from my perch in the tree I was close enough to be wrapped inside of her mind, and I could hear her tossing and turning, unused to the wind and the rain. She kept waking up, grumpy and confused, only to toss and turn and fall fitfully back to sleep again. When she finally dreamed, it was… interesting.

She was calling her mother from the phone in her bedroom, dialing sixty three numbers in along line on a calling card, only to be disconnected by the operator four times in a row.

Obviously she had either had to call her mother today, or she was dreading having to do so. I needed to get her a cell phone so she could call her mother whenever she wished.

When she finally was connected with her mother, it was a conversation all about sex, and whether or not Bella was practicing safe sex, which somehow quickly turned into a scene at our Biology lab, only Mr. Banner was teaching a lesson on 'The Sexual Practices and Behaviors of Mythical Beings.' On the board was written the headings of three large columns: Vampires, Werewolves, and Grindylows. Emmett and Rose were demonstrating on Mr. Banner's lab table and Bella had her head down on a clenched fist on the table. Students were asking questions, and Mr. Banner was writing a comparison between attributes in the three columns, seemingly unphased by the strangely silent vampire couple in the missionary position. When he wrote something under the Grindylow column, he could barely be seen past Emmett.

Mr. Banner had just made the point that all three beings mate for life when Angela raised her hand and asked a question.

"Mr. Banner? Can Vampires or Werewolves mate with humans?"

"Excellent question, Angela. Werewolves, being only bestial for three days out of the month certainly can mate with humans, and in fact a mated, faithful Werewolf is less likely to become violent when unprovoked, within or without the phase of the moon. In a sense, Werewolves need to be mated, for their own sake.

"Vampires however, are always monsters. Though female vampires frequently take on human lovers, as opposed to mates, this is frequently a death sentence for the human involved, and is the primary source of the femme fatale image in modern and premodern society. The male vampire, on the other hand, is totally unable to even take on a human lover, as the male vampire has less control over their bloodlust, or desire for the blood of their prey. In fact, the favorite prey of the male vampire is a pretty, seventeen year old brunette who live in dark, dreary, and out of the way place, like the mountains of Eastern Europe, or the Middle of Nowhere, Washington State.

"Now, how can you identify a vampire?"

A young woman who I did not recognize from Forks High School raised her hand. In a very prim voice, using a British accent, the woman replied, "Vampires, or _Homo sapiens vampiris,_ can be identified mainly through their amazing beauty, inhuman grace, and utterly staggering sex appeal. If such an individual also has incredibly pale skin, dark rings around their eyes, and eyes that are either black, yellow or red, that individual is undoubtedly _Homo sapiens vampiris._ Further, if you are close enough to notice that their skin is cold to the touch, their scent delicious and their teeth sharp, then you aren't far enough away to live to tell the tale."

"Excellent, Hermione, thank you," Mr. Banner replied. "Ten points to Gryffindor."

The dream went on for some time, with a shocking amount of detail. I learned a lot about grindylows, but more about Bella's fears.

The scene shifted eventually. We were back to the desert landscape. Bella was on her hands and knees, digging. She was trying to dig up a twelve food Saguaro cactus. She worked silently for sometime, digging all around the base with a hand trowel, and each time she came back around, the ground had filled in. She worked silently and contentedly, and seemingly forever. She went around the cactus seven times before her mother walked up.

"How's it going, sweetie? You want some iced tea?"

Bella nodded and sat back on her heels. She wiped her forehead with the back of her arm and took a sip of the iced tea.

"Oh, sweetie, Edward's going to love his new garden."

Bella beamed up at her mother. "You really think so?"

"Absolutely, sweetheart. I just don't know why you waited eighty years to introduce your husband to me. The years have been good to you, Bella, but that poor man looks two hundred years old!"

"He'll always be beautiful to me, Mom. He's had too much sun. He knew he wasn't supposed to, but he did it anyway. Don't worry, he'll be okay in a few centuries."

"You'll probably be living on the moon, then."

"No, Mom. I'll always want to live in Arizona." She took another drink of her iced tea.

"Vampires in Arizona. Only you, Bella."

"He's not just a vampire, Mom. He's an angel, too."

And then the scene changed again, and we no longer stood in a dry, hot, bright desert landscape, but once more in the cool, dark, green moist forests of the Pacific Northwest. The air around us seemed to shimmer and the wind had a sound of chimes and singing. The forest smelled deeply of the loam and growing things that surrounded us.

Bella stood in the arms of man that after a moment, I identified as a dream version of myself. My hesitation was understandable, as the sixteen foot wingspan would be enough to throw anyone off at first. I was wearing the same jeans, low on my hips, as I wore even now, only I had nothing on at all from the waist up. Bella had her head on my shoulder as I held her around her waist, and… and the most enormous, beautiful, white feathered wings that were apparently attached at a multi-articulated shoulder joint located on dream me's back were partially folded around the two of them. Us. Them.

It was still strange to see myself in Bella's dreams, but to have no control over my participation.

The wings were easily seven feet from tip to the highest joint where they folded above our heads, before heading back to attach to dream me's body near his spine.

"I knew you were an angel, Edward. I told you so."

"Only you could have found my wings, love. You held the key."

"You looked so strange without them. A fallen angel who has lost his wings. Now you're perfect."

Dream me grinned down at Bella, lifting her chin with a finger. "I thought I was perfect before."

"You were perfect before. Now you're perfect, again," she replied, coming up on her toes to kiss me, which was about right given our heights, if I wasn't bending down to meet her.

Dream me moaned into her mouth, which was also true to life, given that it seemed her tongue was in my mouth at this point. Her nails dragged down the front of my chest and tugged at my jeans, unbuttoning and unzipping.

Apparently Angelic Edward was going commando. I'd have to remember that.

Without removing the jeans at all, she pulled me out and sunk to her knees. Her hands splayed across my hip bones, which she seemed to have a thing for, and her tongue followed the barely present trail of hair from my navel down to my cock, which at least somewhat resembled what my body actually looked like, and not a smallish pink dildo.

_So beautiful._

She wrapped her fingers around me and squeezed hard. Dream me groaned and put one hand in her hair even as the wings around them – us? – flexed once then resumed their position as a half closed cage, a protective wall of feathers.

She licked the tip once, twice, and then sucked the bulbous head into her mouth. I tasted like I always tasted on her tongue – sweet and delicious. Then she looked up, and I saw myself from her perspective, not just as part of the overall dream, and for a flash it was almost overwhelming. I was magnificent and proud, stunning in my beauty and superlative in power and grace. She was moved almost to tears by my beauty, the sight of my body rising naked over hers, framed by the white angelic wings. In that moment I understood what Bella meant when she called me godlike. I wasn't, but I understood what she was trying to convey.

Her hands left my hips to reach as far up my chest as she could, from her knees as she looked up at me. Dream me reached down and helped her to her feet, and took three steps with her, walking her backwards. He pressed her into a moss covered tree, but all trace of clothing had disappeared at this point. Dreams were at least convenient in that one way.

She held onto his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his hips. Dream me wasted no time, but dove directly in, pushing inside of Bella. Apparently feathers were a foreplay all their own.

"Yes, baby," Bella cooed. _Yes, angel._

Her dream lacked detail at this point, not that I was complaining. It was clear that Bella was like myself, a virgin that had not experimented much. It was also clear that she was waking up.

I heard her sit up with gasp and run her fingers through her hair.

_What the… What… Edward,_ she mentally whined. Several deep breaths later she seemed only irked. "You gotta be kidding me," she muttered to no one in particular before laying back down. She shifted in bed, trying to get comfortable, but felt a familiar moisture at her core. She knew it was her own lubrication, preparing her for sex.

_God, I wish Edward were here._

Staying in the tree was the hardest thing I'd ever done, but it was still Condom Testing Night. I would stay in the tree, and my love and I could both be frustrated from afar.

Bella started remembering our moment in the forest earlier in the night, and the taste of my body and feel of my cock in her hand. She remembered my moans and pants and smiled. She apparently quite liked when I had desperately begged her for more just before I came.

She shifted again, restless, and again, and more. Then I realized that though she wasn't thinking of anything but me and my reactions to her, she was doing something slightly more purposeful than just shifting. The mental atmosphere was shifting again, from the relative clarity of before to what I was beginning to understand as the delicious haze of sex.

_This isn't half bad__,_ she finally thought, and I caught a mental image that took my breath away. She had a finger buried deep in her slick core.

I was out of the tree before I realized it. Then I did realize it. I put one hand to the tree, just placing it there without grabbing it. I vowed not to move my hand.

Then I broke my vow and leaned against the tree instead when I heard her again.

_Yes, Edward, yes, please, please, please. _Her mind flitted between memory and fantasy, never dwelling for long on one image. Our kisses, my growling and snarling and purring, her hands in my hair, licking my skin, my hips, and most of all, my voice encouraging her to touch me and pleading for her to make me come.

God, I was hard. Though I reached a certain and mind-blowing level of satisfaction earlier, I was hard again almost immediately, surrounded by her smell and her mind and her body, and I had been in a state of semi-arousal ever since. The moment I saw her drop to her knees in the dream I was back to a place of painful hardness again, but I was willing to ignore it the best I could.

The moment had passed for ignoring my arousal, however. I leaned against the tree, panting, vowing to stay put and yet dying for more. The sweetness of her mind teased me, taunted me, and hearing her pleasure herself to memories and fantasies of our earlier encounters me moan.

I was weak. I wanted to be stronger for her. I wanted this to not bother me. I wanted to be able to listen to whatever happened to her at night, and simply observe, simply dwell in the solace of her mind, a state I would never want to be without again for long.

Oh, but I was weak. She was calling out my name! She was begging me to push harder, to give her more, to kiss her, to love her, to never leave her. I could hear the memory of me moaning her name, groaning her name, saying her name on a sigh.

I groaned and palmed my cock through my jeans. Maybe this would be enough. Just one touch.

Before the thought was even completed I had my jeans undone and pushed down slightly. I fell to my knees when my hand wrapped around the base of my cock, just as Bella whispered out loud the phrase that could have stopped and restarted my heart.

"Edward, please… please fuck me, _please."_

I whined long and low, and then panting, started to pump my hand around my shaft. It felt good – very good – but it was all wrong. After feeling the flaming heat of her smaller hand, mine just felt wrong. I did it anyway.

We were kissing in her mind. I was on top of her in her bed. It was my fingers between her legs, my fingers slipping in and out of her core, swirling in her wetness. But that was Bella's imagination. I imagined it was my cock, pumping in and out, steadily through that same delicious slippery furnace. I wondered if she would be tight. She had small fingers, and even one seemed to be fully surrounded.

With a groan I imagined just how tight she might be and clenched my fist harder. I could hear her chanting my name in her head, a litany of _Edward, yes, yes, yes, _and I realized that I was growling with every thrust into my hand.

_Please, please, please Edward, I want to come, too._

I groaned, and vowed never ever to leave Bella unsatisfied at the end of the night. I was stupid. I deserved this torture, I thought, thrusting harder in time to her own thrusts with her fingers. I had one hand pushing up my shirt then, cupping my hipbone, imaging it was Bella.

I'm so sorry, baby, I thought. I'm so sorry. I promise it won't happen again. I'd failed my mate, I hadn't given her what she needed, and now she had to resort to begging me in her mind, in her fantasy.

I didn't deserve to feel this good, but I couldn't stop, either. I ripped my shirt open, not bothering with the buttons at all anymore. I touched my chest, pinching and rolling one of my nipples lightly between my two fingers. They were so sensitive that I couldn't touch them with too much pressure, even though Bella had bitten down on them as hard as she could. I used my nails to simulate the feeling of her blunt teeth and gasped at the similarity.

I started to come then, and my growl was loud and sustained, but it was also four in the morning, and there weren't any neighbors awake to hear.

Oh, but Bella heard. I was too far gone to care, but I did notice that all of the sudden the faint growl – _my_ growl, she knew it was _me_, she knew it was her _mate_, only she thought it was a memory – rippled down her spine and she was arching off the bed, gasping, screaming my name in her head.

I wanted her to scream herself hoarse. It was the sexiest thing I'd ever heard, I decided as I leaned back on my heels, and groaning, slowly bending all the way backwards until, still on my knees, I was lying on the forest floor, jerking, twitching, and growling as I imagined Bella riding me, screaming my name.

She came down, panting, and I whimpered as she tasted herself on her fingers, curious.

_Eh, it's okay,_ she decided. I whimpered again. _My_ mouth. Her fingers needed to be in _my _mouth. I bet she tasted exquisite. I groaned. I couldn't wait to taste her.

Fuck. I was getting hard again. I shook my head to try to clear it and released myself. I sat up, on my heels and examined my chest, now dripping with my own ejaculate.

It didn't smell like venom.

I dipped a single finger in, and held it up for further inspection. It was the wrong consistency, and it smelled sweet. Venom… well, venom didn't taste like anything at all to me. It just was.

Curiosity got the better of me as well. There couldn't possibly be live sperm in my ejaculate, but now I wanted to check. Carlisle had a microscope. I would check. But in the meantime, I raised a finger to my lips and darted my tongue out. Eh. It was sort of sweet, I supposed, but it was neither Bella nor blood, so held no fascination for me at all. I spit it out and pulled my jeans up.

Bella was just falling back to sleep when I left to go test out my theory with Carlisle's microscope, though, not before a hot shower.

Come to think of it, Alice was evil, I realized.

Carlisle was reading one of his medical journals in his office when I arrived home. I would have preferred to take a shower first, but I wanted to get this substance off me and on to a slide before it dried. I had no desire whatsoever to masturbate when Bella wasn't screaming my name in my head, and now that I thought of it, I wouldn't be satisfied until I was sure.

_Come in, Edward,_ Carlisle thought as I neared his door.

"Can I borrow your microscope, Carlisle?"

He took in my dishabille without missing a beat. I know I smelled of sex – my own, and to some extent a lingering trace of Bella's from earlier in the evening – but he went back to reading his journals.

I scraped some of the quickly drying goop off my abdomen with the slide itself and prepared to look at it under the microscope. I adjusted the magnification, then the eye piece as looked down.

Then I continued to stare, only now I stared in shock.

I blinked and stared harder, as if it were possible that my eyes could deceive me.

It… how could this be possible? How could it be physically _**possible?**_ How could I produce viable sperm? _**How?**_

I leaned up and took a step back.

"Carlisle," I called out quietly, my voice unintentionally hollow. He was by my side in an instant, leaning down and looking to see into the microscope. I heard his sharp intake of breath

"Could I-" But I broke off, my throat seizing up. I tried again. "Could Bella and I have a child?"

"I don't know," Carlisle whispered.

"It's never happened before?" I asked, certain that I would have heard of it, if Carlisle had already known of such a thing, but I had to ask.

"No."

"_Are you __**sure?**_" I demanded with ferocity.

"No, I'm not," Carlisle responded, in the same quiet tone.

We stood there, silently shocked until Jasper gave the house our twelve minute warning several hours later.

I snapped out of it then, realizing that I needed to pick up Bella this morning. I raced to my room and rinsed off in the shower, not even noticing what clothes I was changing into as I threw them on. I did notice an unopened box of condoms on my desk. I grabbed my props and was in the car 73 seconds after Jasper had sent out his wave of calm.

Mindful of Bella's request not to arrive before Charlie left, I approached the house with caution, but I couldn't hear her father, and when I pulled up his patrol car was missing from the front of house.

I sat in the car, waiting. I skated across the surface of Bella's thoughts, but resisted the urge to sink in to them. She was excited to see me, excited to spend the day after school with me, excited to talk with me, be near me, kiss me. I clenched my eyes shut against the urge to sink into her mind. God knew I wanted it and the consolation it brought, but it was… I was still shocked. I was going through the motions of functioning, but I was still shocked.

_He's here! _Was her happy mental cry upon checking out the window and seeing my car. She was out of the house after that, and I got out to open her door for her.

_No family? Well, no, I suppose we wouldn't all fit, huh? Edward?_ She looked at me then, her face puzzled. _What's going on?_ She asked.

She wasn't even yet in arms reach, and already she knew something was wrong, only I had no words yet. None.

She stood right in front of me then, her hand half reaching toward me before she took it back again. "Edward?" she called to me softly. _Are you okay?_

I abandoned the open car door and took a step toward her, then another, closing the distance completely between us. I wrapped my arms around her, then and took a deep, shuddering breath with my nose buried in her hair.

I felt my throat burn. The venom pooled in my mouth and instinctively I sunk into her mind. Instantly surrounded by the thick, rich delight of her mind that filled my senses, I moaned in my misery. I didn't deserve her, and it seemed I was only going to bring pain and complication into her life, but I wasn't strong enough to deny myself any part of her that she offered. I just couldn't do it.

She held me and rubbed my back. _Edward, sweetheart, I can't read your mind, but I would love to know what is going on._

I couldn't. There weren't any words for my shock. I released her instead and slipped her bag off her shoulders. I kissed her forehead and went around to my own side of the car. I opened the back seat and put her bag with my own school supplies before getting in the driver's side and shutting the door. We drove in relative silence to school. Bella had reached over almost immediately, as soon as the car was in drive, to take my hand in hers.

_Whatever it is, Edward, it's going to be okay. _In her mind, she still held me tightly, fiercely, in her front yard. _Shhhh... Whatever is going on, we can get through it together, Edward. You and me. You and me forever. Shhh… It's going to be okay. We can get through it together._

It was a constant stream of calming sentiment and it began to work its wonders on me by the time we had arrived at school. Still, I mechanically let go of her hand and parked the car, then got out and retrieved our things from the back seat. She was there by the time I shut the door again, and she took the bag from my fingers and set it on the asphalt. She took my books and set them on the top of the car. Then her hands were at the back of my neck, pulling me down toward her and my own were at her waist, beneath the oversized jacket that smelled like her father.

Our lips met, brushing once, and then twice against each other. Then she just held me, her fingernails scratching at the back of my skull.

_You don't have to say anything, Edward. You don't have to say anything at all._

I sighed at that, in relief. I whimpered slightly, too.

_Whatever it is, whatever has happened, or is still going on, it's going to be okay. Everything really is going to be okay._

I held her just a tiny bit tighter.

_Edward, Edward, _she crooned, soothing me more than she could possibly imagine. She kept one hand at the back of my skull, scratching a soft pattern, and the other hand smoothed down my chest over the sweater I wore, then around my waist, underneath the grey peacoat. Her fingers wormed beneath my layers until the heat of her hand lay flat against my lower back.

_Edward, sweetheart... Everything's going to be alright, baby._

She was right, of course. Things made more sense in the comfort of her arms and the cradle of her mind. I still didn't have words to express myself, but she was right. It was going to be okay.

I took a great shuddering breath and felt like I could breathe again. I pulled back slightly and she leaned up to catch my lips. I opened mine on a sigh and felt the tip of her tongue come looking for mine. We teased each other, just tip on delicious tip before ending the kiss.

_Better?_

I nodded silently.

_I have an idea. Why don't you take your first class, or your first couple of classes, and write it out in your journal? When you're ready, come and find me, and I'll read it, okay? Or, you know, we can read it together – I'll read, and you be in my head._

I sighed and nodded. Journaling. I could deal with that. Maybe.

***  
end chapter 5, part one  
***

So… what say you? You know I'd really like to hear what you think of it, and by know you should realize that only Edward can hear your thoughts… not me…


	10. Several Levels, part 2

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P. Because she recommended that I take a hammer to the end of Chapter six, in order to get it out.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.  
**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

**Author's Note: **Another sick day, another chapter. It's a good thing I have leftovers from last night's biblestudy-potluck, or I'd starve.

***  
Chapter 5: Several Levels, part two  
***

We took up our things and began our day. I walked her to government and kissed her hand before she went into her class, before I made my way to mine.

I sat down, and kept one tiny fraction of my attention on the situation around me to make sure I wasn't being called on, rare though it was, it happened. I was still cradled in Bella's mind, which meant I could still breath easier. I pulled up my journal and uncapped my pen, but as the nib hovered over the page, I still had no words.

So I drew.

The image was taking form quickly, filling the page. The shadows of the tall trees were starting to be filled in, marking the contrast with the white wings more and more as the shadows became deeper and deeper. The figure being held was so fragile and delicate, dressed in tee shirt and jeans, almost completely obscured by the wings that folded around her. The figure that held her wore a tortured expression.

The next page was filled with little sketches, so different from the page before, filled entirely by one picture. The lines of a microscope. The zoomed in image of the slide in question with its staggering contents clearly displayed. The rough sketch of Bella holding a swaddled infant. The last one made me want to cry, only I wasn't sure why.

"_It doesn't seem possible, or likely, or safe, or sane. Still, it may be true. Bella and I may be able to have a child. Has such a thing ever occurred before, in the history of time and the evolution of our species? I'd like to think that I'd know if such a thing had occurred, but that is a hubris to which I do not aspire after all. It is unlikely, to be certain, but that could mean nothing. Unlikely things happen on a semi-regular basis._

"_I don't know how to feel. Unlike Rosalie, I have never desired children, and I have not even had a proper chance to be upset on Bella's behalf that she would necessarily have to give up any such dreams in order to be with me. And now this. I have never desired children, and I have no idea how Bella feels on the subject, but I can say that the image of Bella holding our infant – a daughter? A son? It is an image that shocks me to my core, an image both brings me back to the brink of tears as well as an image that raises a fierce protectiveness over mother and child._

"_Mother and child._

"_Dear God in heaven, could I have a child? Could Bella bear my child, after one hundred and four years? Would it be safe to even try such an insane endeavor? If for some reason Bella died while miscarrying, or in childbirth, my own reason for life would no longer exist._

"_And yet, if she did not, if she survived, even if only long enough to be changed…_

"_But what could the child possibly be? Not human. Not vampire. Would it be normal? Would it be healthy? Would it be… sane, capable of development, not like the child vampires that wreaked such havoc on our society earlier on? Would it be the best of both worlds, indestructible and compassionate, intelligent and loving? Would it be the worst? An amoral monster, or a creature unable to physically or mentally cope in the world?_

"_Please, God, don't do this to us. Don't give us hope, then rip it away. Don't bait and switch, a child for a monster. If it is possible, if it manages to happen against whatever odds, please don't simply substitute a life for a life, a child for Bella. I couldn't bear it. Nothing is worth the loss of Bella._

"_Nothing._

"_I shudder to think what Bella will make of this. I really have no idea, but I am frightened of her response. And yet, I wouldn't not give her this journal, as she has suggested, for anything._

"_I love you, Bella. I love you more than all things._

The bell rang and I closed the journal, the ribbon marking the page with the drawings. The question was, did I have the courage to seek her out and give it to her?

Yes, I decided, leaving the room and tracking her down by scent, her mind becoming clearer and clearer as I neared. In her free moments, all throughout the hour she had gently called my name, her mind flitting back to the image of the two of us holding one another. At one point her mind flitted back to the fantasy that helped me so much in biology yesterday, and sometime after that she imagined the two of us simply curled up together on her bed, legs entwined, hands caressing, her lips leaving tiny kisses all over my face.

I caught her just as she was about to enter her next class. I was right behind her and about to call out to her softly when… she smelled me.

I had no idea.

_Edward! _She turned around then and I watched her face light up.

"Thank you," I said.

She smiled at me. _You are so very welcome, Edward Cullen._

I handed the journal to her, looking down at her hands, watching her accept the slim leather bound book with her fragile fingers.

_I don't suppose I could have a quick kiss, could I? Just to tide me over until lunch?_

I looked up and grinned at her. I couldn't help it. I was in such a better place now, and I was willing and able to give Bella whatever she wanted.

I reached for her, my left hand free to comb through her long dark hair, until my hand gently cupped the back of her neck and drew her closer to me. The moment her lips neared mine, I parted my own on an inhale, drawing in her delicious scent, savoring it like I couldn't earlier this morning. I felt a shiver down my spine when her scent hit my senses and her tongue slid inside my mouth. I kept my teeth out of her way, but I did suck slightly on her tongue as mine slid around it.

_Oh my God, Edward! _She broke off the kiss then. _Oh, wow. Thank you. That was… wow. Yea. Class. Okay. Uhh…_

I smiled at her. How could anyone not adore her? I didn't understand why there wasn't a line behind me. Then again, I'd been so wrapped up in her, I hadn't actually checked. There might be a line behind me for her affections, but I was secure in the knowledge that I could scare the shit out of any of my competition.

Not that I had any competition in Bella's eyes. That was all that mattered, anyway.

I left her to go to class and monitored her thoughts. She was disappointed that her teacher was so attentive this class, and that it took as much of her attention as it did. She didn't get an opportunity to open my journal until the bell rang. She stuffed her things in her bag – she had been watching the clock, and itching to do this. Then before any of her classmates could engage her in conversation, she opened the journal to the page marked and gasped.

_My dream! Edward, how did you know? Oh, Edward, it's so beautiful – but sweetheart, you didn't have that expression on your face. I think you're editorializing, which isn't quite fair, as it was my dream, and a lovely, lovely thing it was, too. Did you somehow see it? Did you watch as I licked you? Did you watch as you filled me, angel? Too bad the dream ended so soon. Were you around for after? I'm blushing now, though I don't know why. I didn't do anything I didn't want you to do._

_Shoot, I'm stalling. Okay. Microscope… Um, sperm. 'Kay. Is that supposed to be me?_

Then she turned the page and read. She didn't think, she just absorbed and as I sat in suspense in my next class. She paused, her mind a whirlwind, as she hung up her coat, but she continued reading the journal behind her desk as classmates began to settle in around her, as class began.

Then she simply sat, stunned.

_Oh, Edward, _she thought, but it was all she thought for a long time. Then she pulled out a pen and started writing on the next page of the journal, and I heard her thoughts only as they took form on the page.

"_Sweetheart, clearly we are not destined to have normal lives. Okay. I can live with it, so long as I get you in the bargain. I'm not sure I was all that excited about having a normal life, so really, I feel like I'm getting the better end of whatever dealmaking is going on. _

"_I've never been good with people. I've never been good at activities. I've never been coordinated enough or graceful enough to be good at sports. I'm an average student whose only edge over the competition comes because I'd rather read than do most other things. But I am good with you, Edward__. I fit with you in a way I've never fit with anyone else, not even my closest friend in the world, my mother._

"_I've not spent a whole lot of time thinking about having children, or even getting married. I don't really know how I feel about either one of those things, though I am willing to get married to you at some point. And if we have a child, we'll do our best to raise it responsibly, and in a loving environment. __And I know that I'll adore that child, because there will be a piece of you in it. I could hardly do any less._

"_Still, I can't imagine that you think it might even be possible for us to have a child for some time. Even if we have a shotgun wedding the day after my birthday, I don't want to be pregnant in high school, Edward. That's just ridiculous. And I know you couldn't want that either, but my point is that we do have a little time. This isn't a decision we have to make by next Tuesday, you know?_

"_But still, I get that it's suddenly on your radar screen, when it never was before. This is really big, in that way, and I don't mean to belittle that. So okay, it's something you can think about. Maybe do whatever research is possible to be done – I mean, like talking to other vampires, or something__. But the only thing that we can control, in the end, is the not getting me pregnant part. (Oh yes, we will certainly be using condoms now. I don't suppose your dad would write me a prescription for birth control, would he? If I have to go through my own father he will absolutely flip out. Ask, will you? I mean, Carlisle would be cool with that, don't you think?) We can't control anything else – what the child, should we be able to have one, will be like, etc. And maybe, in the end, we'll decide it's not worth it to take that chance. But that is a decision we can make __together__, sometime after I graduate, thank you very much._

"_It's going to be okay, Edward. We're in this together. We'll figure it out together._

"_You're not alone, anymore. Remember that. I got your back._

She shut the journal then, and tried to concentrate on her class. It was difficult at first, but fairly quickly she was able to compartmentalize and move on. I was envious.

The minutes ticked by slowly and I tried to take a leaf out of Bella's book by simply shelving my anxieties about the future in lieu of enjoying the present, in which I happened to be floating in her mind, just shy of relaxed. It didn't entirely work, but it was better than wallowing in my misery wholeheartedly.

Jasper met me in the hallway to my next class, and he stopped me with a hand on my arm. He looked at me expectantly, but I was in Bella's head and couldn't hear. I retreated somewhat, sort of with one foot in each world. It was a bit strange, but I was loathe to leave her completely. She was so hard to hear in school, unless I was completely with her. But I could hear Jasper well enough.

"Sorry?" I muttered quickly, asking him repeat whatever he'd just said.

_I know you can't always control the sexual tension. I get it, but seriously Edward – you might want to tone down the public displays of affection. We're all incredibly happy for you, but the next couple of years are going to be very difficult for you if word gets back to her father in this very, very small town, and he forbids her from seeing you__. What happened to our repressed and prudish little brother__, anyway?_

I snorted and rolled my eyes, but nodded. He had a good point. Bella and I did need to tone it down. I internally groaned. Really, it wouldn't be any more difficult than it was right now, because even though I got to kiss her, that was no longer my end goal, and each kiss just stoked the fire between us, instead of banking it.

"How do you and Alice make it? Or Emmett and Rosalie for that matter? How do you make it through the school day?" I asked this too quickly and softly for it to be perceived by the students around us.

_Alice and I have been together for sixty years, Edward. Emmett and Rosalie for eighty years. For the first decade, we were much like you are right now, only we didn't put ourselves in situations where we couldn't be together. You know what happened with Em and Rose. Eighty years later, they're still desecrating the dining room table__. Alice and I were wandering, looking for y'all__ that first decade, but we were wandering very slowly._

_For reasons beyond my ken, Edward, you're masochistic on several levels, and this seems to be only one of them. You've got the same passion and drive as any other vampire newly mated, and so does your mate, only your mate is still human, and still up to her eyeballs in responsibilities. But it seems to be the hand you've been dealt, so come on, buckaroo. Suck it up and kiss her in your car._

"_Speaking of which, Emmett will report out to you about Condom Testing Night in Spanish. It went well, and you're good to go, but don't let on that I told you. He's really looking forward to telling you himself._

I snorted and laughed just slightly, but nodded. I put one hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes. We were the only Cullens today with yellow eyes.

"Thank you," I said briefly, but I knew he could feel the strong emotion behind it. I was grateful in so many ways, but right now, I was grateful for Jasper's quiet wisdom and calm understanding. It was worlds beyond what Emmett was capable of, but tinged with a darkness of experience that Carlisle could never have. I was grateful for Jasper's perspective.

He smiled and loped off, down to his next class with Rosalie.

My next two classes went by slowly, but not with the same interminable sloth that characterized my school days before Bella moved to Forks. I was outside her door, waiting for her after her Spanish class to walk her to lunch.

_Edward, _she sighed mentally.

I reached out and took her hand, but did not lean in for a kiss before we set out for the cafeteria building. She noticed.

_No kiss?_ She was pouting.

"Not for lack of desire," I whispered, having momentarily leaned down to her ear to say it.

_Then what's the problem?_

I pulled her aside from the stream of bodies going all in the same general direction. It was best, I thought, to just have this talk right now. I leaned into her slightly, so I could whisper in her ear. I angled myself so that I was off to her side, so as to seem less intimate. I'm not sure it worked.

"I'm sure I should feel guilty for the ways in which I have been vulgar in my displays of affection toward you, but I am not. I am only now mindful of what a small town this is, and what a captivating piece of gossip you and I are, and that I have no wish for your father to restrict my time with you, which would be well within his rights to do, given what I intend to do with his daughter this afternoon."

_And what is that? What exactly do you intend to do?_ Her mental voice was, if possible, breathless.

"I think it would be unwise to whisper such things into your ear just before lunch, lest we repeat yesterday's performance of dinner theatre."

_Edward, you're evil,_ she thought, squeezing my hand.

"Not evil, just desperately in love and almost always aroused, when you are around."

She took a deep breath. "Oh, fine," she capitulated. "Let's go eat, then."

_Or, well, get me something to eat, at least._

We sat with my family, and it was very, very strange to be with them and not to hear them. It almost made me want to come out of Bella's mindscape, but I didn't. As she ate her salad our table was silent, each in their own thoughts, and me for once, not in anyone else's. Alice and Jasper were sitting sideways on the benches, straddling them with Jasper behind and Alice leaning into him, his arms wrapped around her. She held a Coke in her hands. Emmett had his arm around Rosalie's waist. Bella and I sat with our backs to the rest of the room, two inches of space separating our bodies, until I placed my left hand on her right thigh.

She faltered momentarily in her chewing.

_So much for no more dinner theatre, huh?_

No. I was going to be good.

Bella finished eating quickly, uninterrupted by conversation. She was wondering what my room looked like as she opened the top of her lemonade. Her right hand drifted down to find mine on her leg and it wasn't long before her fingers were playing with the ties of the Cullen shield that I wore on my left wrist, where others might wear a watch.

_What's this?_

She tugged my arm up, so I brought it to the top of the table for her inspection. She pushed the sleeve of my sweater and shirt up and drew her fingers over it.

_What does it mean?_

"The open hand is for integrity. The lion rampant is for courage. The three trefoils are for perpetuity. It's Carlisle coat of arms."

_It's yours. That's you, Edward. _She looked up and around then, noticing for the first time that Rosalie wore a very obvious and large pendant that was the shield, and that Alice wore a much smaller, more discrete version as a choker around her neck, but she wondered about Emmett and Jasper.

"Does everyone have one?" she asked my family at large.

Rosalie answered. "We've all chosen to wear it. We're proud to wear it. It marks us as part of Carlisle's family, and we wouldn't want to be mistaken for belong to any other… group."

_Will I get to wear one, someday?_

"You have every right to wear it right now."

_Really?_ She asked, looking up at me. Her beautiful brown eyes were wide.

"Yes," I murmured, remembering the brand new no PDA rule. "You can wear mine, if you like, until we create one for you."

_Yes, please. I mean, if it won't make it difficult for you._

As I looked away and started untying the knotted leather thongs that held the cuff on, I thrilled to the idea that she would be wearing my token against her skin, through her classes, at dinner with her father, while she slept.

She held out her left wrist for me and I wrapped it around her wrist. The cuff was comically large, but she shifted it up her arm a bit and I secured it there. She placed her arm on the table with her sleeve pushed up past the cuff and admired it. Then she rolled her cuffs in a slightly neater fashion so that they would match and both bare the bottom half of her forearms.

_Now I'm one of you._

I wrapped my left arm around her.

"Think about how you might like to wear yours."

She instantly imagined a delicate metal cuff with a shield two-thirds the size of the one on her wrist. And then, much to my shock, she imagined a tattoo on her hip, as well.

I looked over at her, both my eyebrows raised.

She only shrugged. _Why not?_

I leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

I glanced up at Alice and she winked at me. I knew without checking her mind that she would work on the design of Bella's cuff, which I hoped she would work in platinum as well. I wanted it to match her engagement ring and wedding band.

Meanwhile, Bella was snickering at her own thoughts. She found the juxtaposition between what I wanted to do for her eighteenth birthday versus what she wanted to do somewhat amusing. I think that a wedding would be much more interesting than getting a tattoo, however.

At the same time, the thought of a tattoo on her hip led my mind to images of kissing that hip, the little curve of her abdomen, the mouthwatering, moist furnace below.

I held her close and reminded myself that I could not ravage her in the middle of the lunch room, no matter how willing she might be. Willing, and luscious, and feisty, and imaginative, and responsive…

I decided to quiz her on all of her favorite things, so as to keep my mind off of a few of my own favorite things I'd like to try out on her. I pelted her with questions, picking up the responses as quickly as she thought them and asking the next question. She looked at me strangely at first, but kept answering the questions.

I continued this into biology. It was a useful distraction, keeping both of us occupied, and affording me glimpses into her mind and information she might not have otherwise thought about.

I drew silent as the class began and pretended to pay full attention to the instructor. Bella was taking notes, but her focus was not so perfect as in her other classes. She would look at me out of the corner of her eye and imagine kissing my neck. Then her attention would be returned to cellular anatomy. A few minutes later she would look again, her imagination sparked by some other part of my own anatomy before returning to her notes.

Two minutes before the bell rang, Bella gave herself over to her fantasies. She was kneeling on the edge of her bed, and I was leaning down, kissing her. She imagined in great detail what I smelled like, the chill of my tongue against hers, the movement of my hands up her sides. Then she was leaning back, taking me with her, her hand fisted around my shirt. Our lips stayed connected as I followed her smoothly, climbing onto the bed, crawling up her body in between her legs. She was urging me on in her mind, even as her tongue slid over my own, in her fantasy.

When the bell rang, I glared at her. She was being so unhelpful. Bella just smiled.

"What was that for?" I asked sharply.

She continued to smile as she put her books away. "To tide me over," she said.

"You're not making this easy, Bella," I said.

_Look who's grumpy. _"Oh, was I supposed to be?" she asked, smiling brightly.

"I am not _grumpy_," I said quietly as I held her jacket for her to put on before we left the room.

"If this isn't grumpy, then what is it?" she asked.

"Frustrated," I said.

_So am I, but I'm choosing to be pleasant about it. You're choosing to be grumpy about it._

I thought about that for a minute as we walked out the door. She had a point.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't take it out on you."

_S'okay. _She raised our joined hands, then, and kissed the back of my own. _My very own grumpy Adonis. It's nice to know you're not perfect. My world might implode, if you were._

I laughed in dark humor. "I'm far from perfect, Bella."

_Clearly. You get grumpy and petulant when you don't get your way, even when it is your way._

I dropped her off at gym, and did not linger. One more class, one more hour and then I could drive her home. We could kiss however long we wanted to, then, besides anything else we decided needed doing.

I walked into Spanish class and leaned halfway out of Bella's mind. I could listen to Emmett, if I concentrated, and still not have to deal with everyone else.

_Dude, you with me, or are you still in your happy la-la Bella land that you've been romping through all day?_

I rolled my eyes at him.

_Excellent!_ He cracked his knuckles. _Let's begin, then._

_Okay. Brass tacks. You're good to go for the condoms, and we really don't think there's venom in the ejaculate. Don't forget to use a new condom each time you come, and remember: hold the tip, roll it down. Rosie got the hang of doing it with her mouth pretty quickly. Might be fun for Bella, too. _

_Oh, and the moment you go soft, dude, you __**must**__ stop what you're doing and take the bloody thing off, right then.__ Condoms weren't made to come off when you're fully erect, and we get fully erect again pretty damn quickly. So don't delay on that account._

_Now, some interesting side notes: don't use a condom when it's vampire on vampire action. Now, I'm not sure why anyone on earth would want to, given that we're not prone to disease or pregnancy, but I'm just saying, don't do it. Latex – it's a rather delicate fabric, all things considered. Rubbing it repeatedly between two horny vampires does nothing good for it. _

_Also, while ejaculate seems inert when it comes to latex, lubrication starts to break it down, almost immediately. Depending on how much it comes into contact with, it either starts to utterly disintegrate, which is so disgusting, I can't even describe it, or it just gets really loose and the sucker falls off, which is like, weirder than weird. Then we had to go spelunking for condoms, which okay, was fun, but still__._

_Now, there's a box on your desk – don't know if you noticed this morning in your haste – and Alice is happy to get more for you whenever you need it._

_Remember, she gets two orgasms for each one of yours. And the first time you go at it, do her a favor and let her be on top. Just lay back and enjoy the ride. Since she's so fragile, you might want to consider lacing your fingers behind your neck and keeping them there until after you come inside her._

_Also, you two seem to have enough chemistry to blow up something large, but don't forget that she'll need quite a lot of foreplay the first couple of times, and maybe every time, and no matter what, she's going to be sore afterwards. Maybe a nice hot bath before I go for pizza? I'll give you a thirty minute warning. Besides, the human sense of smell isn't all that great, but I bet her dad will be able to smell the sex, so maybe a bath isn't such a bad idea, regardless. And hey, it can be a communal bath. I'm sure she'll need help washing her back, and reaching that one last orgasm before dinner. Very important._

_Okay, so what else? What am I missing? Esme will be there when you arrive, and Carlisle will be back in time for pizza. Jasper had wanted to get lost, but Alice thinks we should all stay. I think she just wants to ride the love train. Me, I'm just happy that you're going lose that cherry of yours, and we all get to witness it. Well, you know. Hmm. Can guys lose it? The imagery is all wrong, of course, but I'm going to go with it anyway. But hey, you know, be as loud as you want. God knows we usually are, though I think we'll all tone it down today, wouldn't want to flip out our new sister. Yet. But we all know she's gonna want you to growl, so, you know, don't mind us._

If I could be blushing, I would be. But at least with Emmett's meandering thoughts on condom use and my sex life, Spanish was going by fairly quickly.

_Oh, right! We think ejaculate is inert, completely. Alice was doing some animal testing – don't ask, but the squirrel was still around in a cage four hours later, still very squirrelly – and so we don't think it should be a problem if Bella comes into contact with your semen. Now, don't ask me how, and I'd prefer not to visualize how she tested this with the damn squirrel, but Alice also claims that Bella could swallow, if she likes, no harm, no foul._

_So, yea. I think that's it. I'll plan on getting the pizza at 7:30, and I'll give you guys a knock at seven, as I doubt you'll be paying attention to anything else but her at that point. That gives you a solid three and a half hours to play, plus bathtime. It's not much, but it's not bad. __ After pizza, maybe you two can be a little sociable so we can hang out with Bella, too? Then home by nine, thusly impressing your future father-in-law._

It was a decent plan. I decided to go with it.

***  
End Chapter 5  
***

Behold, how quickly we get to the end of the chapter, for having each chapter be approximately 25 pages long. Alack and alas. Still, please do let me know how I'm doing, and please know that your reviews help me break through writer's block and keep chugging when I'm seventeen pages into a chapter and wanting to give up the story. So, let me know what you think, know that I'm grateful when you do so.


	11. A Tasty Snack, part 1

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P. WD-40 for squeaky chairs, sticking windows, and world peace. G20 would have gone better if they'd had WD-40. :)  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.  
**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

**Author's Note: **It's the chapter you've been waiting for. :)

***  
Chapter 6: A Tasty Snack  
***

Poor Bella. She was so uncoordinated, her hour of gym every day really was a trial for her. At least we were almost through with basketball. Badminton was next, and I was sure it would be much easier for her. The rackets were nice and light, and it was impossible to do damage with a shuttlecock. It was such a simple game, she could practically stand in place and excel at it.

I picked her up afterwards, deciding that it was best simply not to mention gym. We laced our fingers together and walked toward her locker and then mine. I noticed she didn't have much homework this evening, which was a good thing, as she probably wouldn't get to it until nine o'clock.

Her thoughts were dwelling on meeting Esme and Carlisle. I could tell from her fidgeting that she was nervous. Once we were in the privacy of my car, I looked over to her and touched her face gently.

"Hey. Don't be nervous."

"What if they don't like me?" she asked, her voice desperate.

"They already love you, and they haven't met you yet."

_But they're your __**parents**__… _She imbued the word with such meaning, I had to stop her.

"Bella, wait. They're my parents, sort of. Esme is very caring and slightly maternal, and she's always had a soft spot for me. It's true that she's the only mother I've ever known, but she's still not a mother to me like I think you're thinking. Our family is a family of adults, and we all joined this family as adults. We all chose to stay in this family. I'm older than Esme. I was Carlisle's first.

"And Carlisle," I continued, "He's… well, he is like a father to me, more so than Esme is my mother, but he's also more like a companion. He made me because he was desperately lonely, among other things. Of course, now he has a family of eight…" I trailed off and listened to her do the mental calculations, realizing that she was included in on that count.

"My point is," I said, trying to refocus us both, "You're already a part of our family, and they're just excited to meet you. They accept that I've chosen you, and you me, and their thrilled that I've finally found my—" But here I cut off. I'd not yet said that out loud to her, and it sounded strange, suddenly, strange and primeval, strange and bestial, to refer to Bella as my mate without her permission.

But she was curious. "What were you going to say?" she finally asked out loud, after mentally asking several times.

I started the car and pulled out, a vain hope that operating the car would settle my nerves. It didn't, really.

"I'm afraid you won't approve of the term."

_Just spit it out, Edward._

I took a deep breath. How was it that Bella always, always was pushing my boundaries? Rosalie was right.

"Everyone is very happy for me that I've finally found my… mate."

_Mate? Is that a technical term? Hmm. It's not bad. __That's all? Is that what you were worried about, sweetheart?_

She reached over and snaked her hand underneath my arm that rested on the gearshift so that she could rest her palm on my thigh, much like I had done at lunch earlier in the day.

_Tell me more._

"One of the things about being a vampire is that you don't change. Things intensify, but there isn't any change. Except for when a vampire finds his mate. Or hers. Then there is a shift. It's like, something clicks inside, something is changed, irrevocably. It always seems to be mutual, and there isn't a single example to the contrary but that vampires mate for life. Or, well, their entire existence. Esme has always been worried that I was turned too young to be able to find a mate. She's been hoping I would find you ever since she joined us."

_Which was?_

"1923."

_Hey, where do you live?_

Bella had noticed that we were driving further out of town and deeper into the woods. I turned off into our drive and remembered that it was probably barely noticeable to her. We pulled past the house and into the garage building.

_Whoh. This is a lot of cars. But, I guess there are a lot of people. Pretty cars. Fast cars. Well, except for the Jeep. I wonder if that belongs to Emmett. And the dark grey sports car – is that Jasper's, maybe?_

"It's mine," I said, of the Vanquish.

That didn't compute in her head.

"But… then whose car is this?" she asked.

"Mine."

She was beginning to see that we were very wealthy. She had no idea.

_Should I…_ she thought, of her bag in the back seat of the car.

"You can leave it there, if you like. I won't let you forget it when I drive you home."

I ran around to the other side of the car, forgetting that she had never before seen me move quickly.

"Whoh!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry," I said with a grin.

_You… can… can everyone move that quickly?_

"Yes. I'm the fastest, but yes." I led her out, walking backwards and holding both of her hands so I could see her. "You have to understand, we have to work so hard to appear human everywhere else, but this is where we can just be ourselves."

_How fast can you run, anyway?_

"I've never measured it. I suppose I should, some day. Fast, though."

_Wow_, she thought, about my running. Then she saw the house again, the old three-story Victorian in the middle of our meadow in the forest. _Wow,_ she thought, again.

"Come on. Everyone's here but Carlisle. He'll be back later so you can meet him then." I let go of one of her hands as we mounted the steps to the porch. I held the door open for her and took her jacket as she stepped inside.

"Hi Bella!" Alice called out, and as soon as Bella turned around again, Alice had enveloped her in a hug.

The moment Alice stepped back, Rosalie caught her in a one armed hug from the side. "Hey, kiddo. We're glad you're here."

Jasper and Emmett both smiled at her from further away in the room, but it was Esme coming forward that caught her attention. I think Esme was glowing, she was so happy. She stopped short, though, five feet away, not wishing to alarm her by coming any closer.

"Bella, I'd like to introduce you to my mother, Esmeralda Cullen. Esme, this is my mate, Isabella Swan."

Bella held out her hand and Esme came forward to hold it.

"It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Cullen. You have a very lovely home."

Esme was all smiles. "You must call me Esme. I'm **so** happy to meet you, Bella. Carlisle sends his apologies, but his shift ends soon at the hospital, so he'll be here later this evening."

Bella smiled and glanced around the room. She spied the piano and commented on it, thinking perhaps it was Esme's. I was confused – she knew I played. Could she not imagine that the piano would be mine?

"What a beautiful piano. Do you play?"

"No, Edward is our musician, did he not tell you?" Esme replied.

Bella turned her head and smiled. "He mentioned it," she said. _And I really want to hear him play._

"Oh, Edward, you must play for her," Esme urged.

_Will you? Please, Edward?_

I nodded and took up her hand again, pulling her with me to the elevated platform on which stood my concert grand. I pulled the bench over from center so she could sit on it with me, but I would still be able to reach all the keys. I placed her left hand on my thigh and leaned over to kiss her.

"For inspiration," I murmured as my lips brushed against hers.

_But Edward, your mother is watching!_

And you can't imagine how pleased she is to see me kissing you, Bella, I thought. I breathed in her scent and wallowed in her mind as my tongue reached out to trace her lips, begging for entrance. On a sigh she opened those lips. Tasting her was pure joy. I lingered just a moment more before parting, setting my fingers to the keys and taking a deep breath in.

I played, in that moment, a line that formed in our kiss. My left hand played a comforting, cradling, repetitive chant, varying every four measures just slightly, while my right hand wandered through the valleys and cloud formations of her mind. It wasn't long before I heard my family all move off, and sometime after that, Bella's head rested on my shoulder. The music was soft, gentle, utterly ethereal, in the beginning, but it became more demanding before long. Stronger, more powerful, it was Bella's passion.

_Beautiful. So beautiful_, I heard her think, just as I felt hot moisture seep into the fabric at my shoulder. She was crying. I could smell the salt from her tears. I stopped playing then, drawing to a quiet close.

I looked over at her in confusion.

She lifted her head from my shoulder, but kept close to me, her hand clenching on my thigh. "That was _so_ beautiful, Edward. Thank you."

"It was you," I said, leaning over to her, turning more so I could wrap my arms around her. "That is a taste of what your mind is like, for me."

She kissed me, then, her passion as forceful and powerful as the music had been just a moment earlier. The hand on my thigh quickly went to my hip and her other hand went to my hair. She ran her fingers through it twice before staying at the back of my skull, digging her nails in deliciously. She wanted to crawl over me, but didn't think she had enough room to do so. I reached out a hand and closed the key cover on the piano, then grabbed her hips and dragged her over me, wedging her perfectly between my hips and the piano, her legs folded on each side of mine.

She moaned and sighed into my mouth as she settled into her new perch. She rocked against me as her tongue slid across my own. _ Oh, Edward, yes, yes, yes. Please tell me we don't have to stop this time. Please._

"We have hours," I murmured against her lips, before kissing across her face and down her throat. I couldn't actually say that we didn't have to stop, because of course we would, and maybe too soon.

_I don't suppose we could… _She trailed off in coherent thought, then, as I licked the base of her neck, mimicking the glorious thing she had done to me last night. I wanted to see if she liked it as much as I did. I closed my lips on the spot and sucked ever so gently, still licking. _Yesyesyesyesyes, Oh, angel, right there, just like that._

I sucked gently, careful not to pull the skin too taught beneath my mouth, careful not to let my teeth anywhere near which was more difficult than I had imagined. I could taste the blood nearer the surface now and it smelled delicious, but not so delicious I couldn't stop.

I released her with a gasp, but it was hard to stay away. I licked the area I had formerly been so attached to, and watched her shiver. I also watched the bruise begin to form. She was so fragile, so breakable.

I sighed and leaned back. I looked into her eyes sadly.

_Edward… Edward? Oh God, what now? _I could easily forgive the impatience in her tone. I was a trial, and I knew it.

I raised a hand and brushed a thumb over the bruise.

_What is it?_

"I've hurt you already."

_Huh? Trust me, that did __**not**__ hurt. What do you mean?_

"I've left a mark on you." I rubbed that spot ever so gently, wishing I could make it go away.

_Oh you have got to be kidding me. Are you seriously going emo because you gave me a hickey? Do you have any idea of how hard I tried to do that to you yesterday? And what did I get for my trouble? Nothing! Not a blemish, not a scratch!_

_Well, okay, I didn't get no response at all, _she thought, remembering me begging her to make me come, begging for more, begging for harder, and then watching me lose myself at her mercy. _You're pretty spectacular to watch when you're like that, you know._

"You're not upset?" I had to make sure.

She rolled her eyes at me. "What I am is stuck," she pointed out wiggling a little bit. We both bit back groans at the same time. _Seriously, a little bit of help here? I'd like to get up, now._

I leaned back and swiveled around the other end of the piano bench so that my back was now toward the Kawai. I stood up, then, and held her as she got her footing, nearly tripped, and then regained her footing again.

_Will you show me your room, now? I have a date with a bookshelf of journals._

"Just my journals?" I asked, taking her hand and leading her up the two flights of stairs.

_Well, I have a feeling I'm going to get sidetracked quickly. I thought I'd cut to the chase, just in case._

"I have no idea what you mean," I said, grinning.

_I'm sure you don't, Edward. I'm sure you don't._

We walked down the hallway on the third floor and I pushed the door open to my room, stepping back and letting her enter first.

_You are __**so**__ neat. Is this a vampire thing?_

"No," I said, rolling my eyes and thinking of Emmett. I followed her in as she walked through and I leaned against the closed door, my arms folded across my chest as she explored.

_Whoh. Wall of windows. That's pretty cool, I guess. Nice view. Hmm. A door to the outside, without benefit of balcony. Welcome to the world of the supernatural._

"No bed?" she asked, turning back to look at me. She'd seen the black leather couch that was something between a chaise lounge and postmodern daybed.

I shook my head. "I don't sleep."

_Ever? Like, __**ever**__, ever?_

"No, not at all."

Her eyes widened as she took that in. "Do you get tired?"

I shrugged. Existentially, sometimes. Physically, never. "No."

She resumed her survey of the room. I kept my recorded music collection in here, but most of my books were in the library. Only those I was currently reading were out here now, plus my shelf of journals.

I was amused that part of the piece I was just playing her got stuck in her head, and the same eight bars simply repeated over and over again. It was a strange and beautiful juxtaposition to hear the piece that was designed to mimic her mind, resonate there. It made me realize what a poor imitation it really was, just the tribute of a lover.

_Ah hah! Jackpot. Are they in order, I wonder?_

"Chronologically," I said.

"Should I start at the beginning?" she asked, her fingers trailing along the leather covers. "Or somewhere in the middle?"

"Wherever you want."

_Might as well start at the beginning. _She selected the first volume and walked back over to me, placing it on the desk near the door. She noticed the box of condoms. _You were busy last night._

You have no idea, I thought. "Does that freak you out?"

She snorted. "No. But you'll ask your dad, right?" _About the prescription for birth control pills?_

I nodded. It was a good idea, and I'm glad she came up with it, especially given the results of Condom Testing Night. Now, how to bring that up gracefully…

"So, I did some research last night," I started, deciding to leave my family out of it for now. "And it seems, pregnancy aside, I don't think that it would hurt you, after all."

I watched her eyes light up. _Seriously? _"Good news, good news," she murmured as she came closer and went up on her toes to reach my lips.

Touching my lips to hers, it seemed surreal that we would be uninterrupted for the next three hours. We could go as far as we liked, do whatever we chose to do.

Now I was nervous.

Every other moment of intimacy with Bella hadn't been planned. It had just happened, spontaneously, and before we knew what was going on we were desperately wishing we had more time and more privacy, and now that we had both… God, I really had no idea what I was doing.

So maybe I should pretend that I've only stolen two minutes with her? I liked the idea.

Two minutes. Make it count, Edward, I told myself.

I lowered my head and opened my mouth, breathing in her delicious scent as I always seemed to do upon first kissing her.

_Edward,_ Bella thought on a sigh.

Our tongues slid against one another. I didn't think I'd ever get used to her heat, or the slippery silk of her tongue, or her taste in my mouth. It made me wonder what she tasted like, the rest of her skin, and that moist furnace I was dying to sample. I wondered what she'd be like when she was menstruating.

I got hard instantly at the thought. And I remembered, too, that orgasms were supposed to be excellent for menstrual cramps. I'd have to run that idea by her in the next month.

Bella pressed herself against me, rubbing her hips back and forth against me, assuredly noticing my erection, now. She slipped a hand down and cupped me, pressing against me and squeezing. _Is that for me?_

She broke off the kiss. "Now here is an interesting thing. I can move you, here," she said, and with an impish grin proceeded to do so. _Why is that, do you think?_

I groaned. How should I know? "You move me. Isn't that enough?"

_But how much do I move you, I wonder?_

Bella was definitely having fun with her newfound power. I was putty in her hands.

"You could find out, I guess," I groaned.

_Maybe I should. But let's get this off you, first, _she thought, tugging at my sweater and the shirt beneath it. I had them off instantly.

_You are quick when you want to be, aren't you?_

"I can be slow," I said, trying to modulate my breathing without much success.

She just grinned at me and lowered her hands to the button over my zipper. She struggled with it for a minute, but I took that time to toe off my shoes. She sunk to her knees, then, and I lost my breath at the image of her at eyelevel with my hips. She leaned in and licked the vee on my left side, between the bone and my abdomen, and as it disappeared beneath my jeans, she slowly drug the waistband down so her tongue could reach just a little farther, and then just a little farther still.

_Help me out with this, _she thought, and leaned back a little.

I had my jeans off quickly, and with them my boxer briefs and my socks.

I was utterly naked and she was completely clothed. There was something very wrong with this picture, but before I could really put my finger on what it might be, her tongue, the little flame of fire itself, was wrapping around and around my glans, and all thought fled.

Her fingers explored my length, and my sac underneath it, and she marveled that she could move them both.

_So big, Edward. _She wrapped her fingers around me and they just missed meeting, tip to tip. But then again, she had small hands.

Small hands that she nevertheless used to perfection, I might add. She popped the top of me into her mouth and sucked, swirling her tongue around and around. She had one of her hands still cupping my sac and the other stationary, gripping my base. I groaned and put one of my hands over hers, moving it slowly up and down, showing her what I had discovered only last night, felt good.

_Like that, baby?_

I growled in response.

_Want some more?_

I growled louder.

She took me in deeper then, and I drew my hands up into fists, crossing my arms over my bared chest, feeling my muscles strain. I could feel myself leaking, and there was a small part of my mind that was worried that Bella wouldn't like it, would want to stop, but I knew that wasn't the case.

_Oh, Angel, baby, you're so… God, Edward, you're so sexy. You make me want you so much, all the time._

_I think you should come, Edward. Right now. _

"No," I snarled.

_No, really, I think you should. I really want you to, Edward. You're so beautiful when you lose it. I didn't properly see last night. But I'm watching now. Please?_

"No," I snarled again.

_Please, baby? Why not? Please, for me? Please?_

I whimpered in submission, my arms still tight to my frame.

_That's it,_ she thought as she sucked harder, pumped harder, scraped her nails down my sac. _Come for me. Come for your mate._

I opened my eyes and lost my mind.

The vision of Bella, kneeling at my feet, my cock in her mouth, begging me to come seared itself into my brain. I fought to keep my hips still as I felt the pulses burst through me. I couldn't pull away, even when it seemed like Bella was gagging when the first shot of myself passed her lips, but I was stunned at her reaction afterwards.

_Oh, __**fuck**__, Edward, you taste good._

I groaned as I finished coming in her mouth, then pulled her up to me and held her close.

"Thank you, Bella," I breathed out, holding her gently.

"Oh, the pleasure was all mine," she said. _Seriously. Any time you want. That was fun, and you taste really, really, __**really**__ good._

I was hard again, thinking of all the places she could suck me to completion. I finally understood why Emmett and Rosalie felt the need to christen every flat surface in the house, and most of the vertical ones, too.

"Maybe later," I said. I realized only after the fact, and only because of Bella's thoughts on the subject, that my voice had taken a particular tone she'd never before heard, but quite liked. "For now, you have on _way_ too many clothes for this afternoon's activities."

She giggled. "You think so?" _Then you'd better take them off me._

I smirked at her, and had her shirt over her head and off in the next moment. Then I gasped. Never had so much of her beautiful skin been exposed to me before. I brushed a thumb up over her abdomen, up over the centerline of one of the cups of her plain white cotton bra, then followed the strap up her shoulder. I gently eased it down, off her shoulder. I let that hand then rest at her side, just above her jeans. It was amazing how much of her midsection I could cover, just by resting my hand flat. I treated my other thumb to the same delicious journey. Up the little curve of her abdomen, up her ribs, up over the centerline of the other cup of her plain white cotton bra, then following the line of the strap, up over her shoulder then down, down her arm.

My hands met over her abdomen and slowly covered every inch between the bottom of her bra to the top of her jeans. Her skin was so soft, so fragrant, I couldn't get enough of it. I could let my hand rove over just her abdomen for the next year and it wouldn't be enough.

I sighed with relief when I realized that soon enough I would be able to dedicate a year of my life to the worship of her abdomen, should I choose to do so.

Still, I moved my hands to her back and slipped the clasp of her bra open, and tugged it to the floor.

_Umm…_ I drug my eyes from the glory that was her breasts back to her face and took in her fear.

"You are so beautiful, love," I said, pulling her close to me, intending to kiss her. But when our chests pressed against one another, bare skin to bare skin, cool flesh to warm flesh, I gasped. "Oh, God, Bella."

_Oh, my God, yes – why are my jeans still on?!_

My laugh was a gasping thing, still partially in shock as I was.

I could feel her breasts pebbling up against my chest and I wanted to taste them. A quick check of logistics assured me that if I got on my knees, I'd be to low, and any other position that involved the ground was out of the question at this point.

"Wrap your legs around me," I whispered in her ear.

"Huh?" she asked, confused, but then I lifted her up easily, bringing her to the perfect height. She squealed, then gasped as I brushed my lips across the softness of her breast. She put her hands on my shoulders and wrapped her legs my ribcage. I held her securely, one arm beneath her, one supporting her back.

I nuzzled one breast and then the other, and smiled when she dug her hands into my hair.

_Yes, baby. That feels nice._

I reached out to lick her and she hissed. I glanced up to see what sort of hiss it might be, but she snapped at me.

"You stopped! Don't stop!"

***

…end chapter 7, part one. And yes, I did stop there, but don't worry, there's more. I almost wish y'all could witness the utterly amusing and entirely snarky commentary between me and my beta in the margins of this fic, but alas. Perhaps I'll make a pdf available of the fic, plus snarky comments, when I'm all finished. That could be amusing for all involved. Anyway, please do review. I have to admit that I'm a bit stuck part way into chapter 7, and frankly, I'm getting sick of writing sex. So please, a review or two would not go amiss in helping me get my groove back. Thanks in advance.


	12. A Tasty Snack, part 2

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P. WD-40 for squeaky chairs, sticking windows, and world peace. G20 would have gone better if they'd had WD-40. :)  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.  
**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

**Author's Note: **It's the chapter you've been waiting for.

***  
Chapter 6: A Tasty Snack, part two  
***

I grinned and got back to it. I licked and nuzzled, and licked and kissed, and finally when I licked and sucked I got a reaction.

_Yes, baby, oh, yes baby. That feels so good._ _Ugh, but Edward, I still have my jeans on. I don't want my jeans on, anymore…_

I let her slowly slide down my body, and when her legs got to my waist I gently loosened them so she could stand on her own.

"Your wish is my command," I said before I kissed her thoroughly, unfastening her jeans and letting her wiggle out of them.

_You really need a bed, baby, _she thought as she did a little hopping dance, trying to get her socks off with her toes.

I laughed. I couldn't help it. She was so unintentionally funny. She frowned at me, and I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to the postmodern daybed. She hissed when her rear touched the leather.

_Everything's cold in this house but me!_

"Maybe together we can figure out how to keep you warm," I said. Then I smirked. "Did you want to keep your socks on, love?"

"Edward," she ground out between clenched teeth. _Stop messing around._

"Or what?" I asked, still chortling, but taking her socks off from my position kneeling on the floor next to her. I let my hands linger around her ankles and slowly, but slowly drift up her lovely legs. She took my breath away, she was so beautiful.

_Or I will put my clothes back on and just give you blowjob after blowjob, and you won't get to play at __**all**__ tonight,_ she thought, her inner voice stern.

I raised an eyebrow. Oh, love, you can punish me with blowjobs anytime, I thought. "As blissful as that sounds, Bella, let's save that for another night." Hell, if I could spend a year simply worshiping her abdomen, she could spend night after night worshiping my cock. I was okay with it.

"Besides," I said, one hand sweeping up her thigh, over her hip to cup one of her breasts. "I made a promise to myself last night."

_Oh?_

"I promised that I would never again leave you unfulfilled at the end of the night."

Her eyes went wide. "I wasn't unhappy last night, Edward. You know that, right? I was having fun, too." Then she shivered.

_Wow, it's cold. We need to do something, or I need to put my clothes back on. Could you get some down comforters, along with that bed, baby?_

"I promise to buy a bed, and blankets. They'll be here by the next time you come over." I brushed my thumb over her nipple, once, twice and then with a certain rhythm that appealed to me. I decided to lick the other nipple, while I was at it.

"Oh. Um. And when – ooh that's nice – when… when would that be?"

I looked up at her then, ceasing my movements. I didn't really want to talk about this, but now was as good a time as any.

"I'm out of town this weekend. Camping."

"What?" she asked, leaning half up, looking incredulously at me.

"Well, that's what we tell people, anyway. Hunting, really."

"Oh," she said, dropping back down, appeased. _Well, that's alright then. You gotta eat. All weekend, though?_

"We leave Friday, after lunch."

She whined. I rubbed circles on her abdomen.

"Call me when you get back in?"

"We come back just in time for school on Monday morning."

She whined again, louder and longer this time. "Okay."

"Do you think Charlie would be okay with you coming over twice a week for dinner and homework at my house? With proper parental supervision, of course," I asked, kissing first one breast, then the other.

"You mean like, Tuesday and Thursday? Well, I don't like the idea of asking for permission. Sets a bad precedent. But I could run it by him and see if he flips out. Would I actually do my homework?"

"Of course. I wouldn't want him to suddenly decide to take away his tacit permission."

"Then I should probably do my homework over here tonight. Good faith effort, and all."

"Certainly. After dinner. Plenty of time. I'll do mine, too. Now, about you being cold," I said, but then my mouth was otherwise occupied.

I kissed her, running my tongue over her lips, and sweeping in. It was an odd angle, perfectly sidewise as I was, but it was sort of interesting, too. I cupped the breast closest to me in my right hand, drawing my thumb over her nipple again. I loved doing it. I loved how her warm flesh filled my palm, how her nipple only seemed to get harder and harder, the more I played with it. My other hand was at her abdomen, tracing the little valley just below the tiny curve that marked the placement of her uterus.

If we had children, this is where they would grow. It was a surprisingly compelling thought.

She shifted then, her legs parting slightly, and I could smell her arousal very clearly all of the sudden.

I let my left hand trail off to the side, down the outside of her hip, her leg to the knee, then come back up, slowly inside to a soundtrack of Bella chanting _yes,_ in our heads.

"Tell me what you like, love," I said, breaking off our kiss. Then I had an idea. "In fact, sit up for a minute." I slid in behind her on the wide leather bed and pulled her back to me, wrapping my arms around her in the same motion.

"Tell me if you get too cold," I whispered in her ear. Then I kissed the ear, licking the lobe into my mouth and sucking on it. Her head fell back on my shoulder and my hands roved over her abdomen, then one hand went to cup a breast and I was amazed how different it seemed to be when her body was semi-reclined as it was just now. How she could not be utterly fascinated with her own breasts was beyond me.

"You're so beautiful, love."

_Edward, I'd really like your hand to be lower at this point._ She took my right hand that was still happily exploring her abdomen and tugged it lower, so as to lead by example.

"You mean like this?" I asked, deciding not to tease her. My fingertips slipped through her curls and touched her outer lips ever so gently. She was so aroused that those lips were open and slippery with a moisture that felt like hot oil on my fingers. I dipped one finger deeper in and heard her whimper. I quickly removed my fingers and brought them up to my lips. I tasted her quickly, just a quick taste is what I told myself, but without realizing it I'd sucked all of the moisture of each of my fingers and was wishing for more.

"Edward," she whispered. _That was so hot._

With her head back on my shoulder she could see my face pretty clearly.

"You want to try it?" I whispered to her. I swiped my finger in her heat and held my index finger out for her to taste. Her eyes steady with mine, she opened her mouth and held her tongue ready and waiting for me to place my finger in. She closed her lips on my finger and sucked, her tongue laving and swirling around it much as she had done with the head of my cock.

And interestingly enough, my finger seemed to have a direct line to my cock. I could feel my eyes widen even as I grunted slightly.

_Not half bad, especially when it's on your finger._

"I can't wait to taste it from its source," I said as I let my fingers resume their travels. I let one finger circle around her outer lips, and then just inside. I felt her clutch at my legs, then, our arms somewhat entangled, she still managed to make it work.

As I slipped one finger inside of her, she hissed. "Yes, baby," she whispered.

A hot, moist furnace it was indeed. It felt insanely silken and I was almost painfully hard, just thinking about it, with only one finger in her. I moved that finger in and out, slowly at first, but then a little quicker.

Bella started moaning in time with the rhythm I set, and it sent a delicious shiver down my spine and straight to my cock. I've heard plenty of people having sex before, but I'd never in my entire existence heard something as good as Bella, moaning.

I added another finger and nudged her clitoris with my thumb every time I thrust into her. Her moans turned into open mouth cries, and before long she started wriggling, and squirming in my arms, arching her back, her breath coming more quickly, now.

_Edward, Edward… Just a little harder. Ooo, yes, right… right there,_ she thought, one of her hands moving down and pressing my thumb directly onto her clitoris, and rubbing.

"Oh, yeah, just a little… just a little…" She whined then, and her entire body arched almost out of my arms. "_Edward,"_ she gasped softly.

I stopped then, but she yelled at me in her mind.

_Don't you dare stop!_

I continued as before, watching her beautiful form as she rode out the wave of her pleasure, and it wasn't long before she was begging me to stop.

_Okay, stop, you gotta stop now… Oh, but don't move_... she thought, when I made to take my hand away.

"That was nice," she said, and I watched as a slow and lazy smile came over her features.

"You are _so_ beautiful," I whispered to her and went to kiss her, but the angle was too awkward, and it wouldn't work. Quickly I moved around her, and before she could register it, I was above her, supporting her as I gently laid her down. My fingers were still inside her.

_Mmm. Still not used to that._

I kissed her then, as I had wanted to only a moment ago. I also started to move my fingers, gently, ever so gently again, and she moaned deliciously for my efforts.

I kissed down her body pausing at her luscious breasts to first suck in one nipple, then the other before I continued down.

_You don't have to do this, you know,_ she thought in a moment of shyness. As my lips hovered over her own, moist hot ones, I looked up at her, drawing her knees apart and off to each side.

"Yes, I really do." I ran a thumb along her slit, glancing down and taking a deep breath before looking up to meet her eyes. I licked my lips. "You have no idea how good you smell to me, Bella. Every time you get wet, I can _smell_ it. And it makes me want to do this," I said, ducking my head down, burying my face in that moist, delicious heat.

_Holy shit! Edward! Oh, fuck yes! Yesyesyesyes, baby yes!_

And it was delicious. I darted my tongue out and lapped up the side of her inner lips, grabbing the moisture there and bringing it back so I could savor it. If I tasted to her anything like she tasted to me, I could understand why she just wanted to suck me off all night.

I could do this to Bella for _years._

I groaned, desperate for more, and started lapping at her in earnest. I held onto her hips with both hands as she spread herself in front of me, a feast. I sucked on her clitoris ever so lightly and discovered that she liked that quite a lot. Her fingers were buried in my hair, clutching me to her. When I thrust my tongue as deep inside her as I could reach, she _keened_ my name.

God, I couldn't _wait_ for her menses. Talk about having your cake and eating it, too.

I tilted her hips up to me for a better angle and circled one of my arms all the way around her so I could reach her clitoris with my thumb. I alternated shallow lapping licks all over her inner lips with thrusts as deep as I could go inside the center of her core, all the while rubbing circles around and occasionally over her little bundle of nerves.

She had just recently reached her climax, so it took longer this time, but oh, I was patient. I had all night.

In the end it only took forty minutes. Forty, glorious, utterly delicious minutes. I varied my intensity, the level and depth of my strokes to see what would elicit the different noises she would make. In the end, she came screaming my name in that glorious harmony of her mind and her voice. I almost came on the spot.

"I'm warm now," were her first coherent words.

I laid along side her and wished that I already had a bed. A king sized bed would be a stretch in this space, but a queen would fit nicely, I thought. And blankets. A down duvet, and an electric blanket just on top of the mattress, underneath the fitted sheet, that way I could hold her without chilling her.

Come to think of it, I'd better get two – one for her bed, as well.

Silk sheets? Or maybe just 600 count cotton? Cotton, definitely. And pillows, I thought, stroking her abdomen idly. We needed at least six really fluffy pillows. I wished I thought of it earlier so we could enjoy it now…

She began to stir at my side. I gazed at her in wonder and fascination that I could truly be holding my bliss in my arms. Life was good.

_I think we might be ready for those condoms, now…_

I grinned at her. I was up to grab the box and back again reclining at her side before she finished her inhale.

_Good heavens, you're fast. When you go for a run… are you going this fast?_

I grinned and nodded quickly.

"Just how far did you run last night?"

"Last night? Up into British Columbia. Not far."

"You went running into _Canada?_"

"We're at the top of Washington State, love. Canada's not that far away."

"So you went how far, maybe?"

"Maybe three hundred miles. Caught a deer."

"A tasty snack?"

"Eh. A snack."

"What would you find a tasty snack then, other than me?"

I closed my eyes and grinned. "Mountain lion."

_Mountain lion? _She asked, her tone incredulous.

"Yeah," I said, still grinning. "My favorite."

"Huh. Mountain lion." She paused at that, picturing a cougar, and trying to imagine me attacking one. Her image was somewhat comical, but I felt no need to correct her logistics. Then she attacked the box of condoms. "Trojan, extra large latex condoms – ribbed for her pleasure. How thoughtful. But baby, there's only a dozen in here."

"We'll get more," I said, grinning, watching her inspect the small foil packet.

"You know how to do this?" she asked, twiddling the packet between her fingers.

"In theory," I said. "You?"

"In theory," she responded.

"I think you should probably be on top," I said, shifting slightly so that I could lie on my back. This couch was just not big enough. I needed a bed, and I needed it yesterday. Damn.

"Oh, you just going to lie there and enjoy yourself?"

I smiled, tempted to simply respond in the positive to see what she would do, but I didn't. "You'll have more control on top. I'll have less."

She raised an eyebrow, but dropped the subject. _Whatever you say, you sick, masochistic lion, you._

I smirked at her. "Come on then, stupid lamb. That condom's not putting itself on."

She burst out laughing. _Oh it might have to, after that!_

I leaned up and kissed her, smiling at the same time.

_Okay, okay, you're forgiven. _She broke off the kiss and ripped the condom packet open, tossing the refuse to the floor. She bit her lip as she looked at the latex disk for a moment, figuring out which way was supposed to be up. _Oh, what the hell, _she thought, tossing the latex disk onto my abdomen and leaning over to envelop my cock in her mouth.

I groaned loudly. "Oh, _Bella_!" Her name was an admonishment and somehow an exclamation at the same time. "_Focus,_ love!"

She surfaced, licking her lips and moaning. "Sorry. Easily distracted."

I gave her a look, then handed her the condom.

_You're going to make me do this, aren't you?_

"You're going to be an expert in no time. Stop stalling."

_I've heard it's not quite as nice, using a condom. I mean, I get that we need to, absolutely, I'm just saying, I'm looking forward to being on the pill._

"Stop teasing me," I ground out.

She grinned then set to work.

"Pinch the tip, roll it down," I said, and watched as she complied. It was tight, but it fit. The sensation was certainly different, feeling her fingers touch me through the latex, but it still felt good.

I was willing to bet that the wonderful moist furnace I was looking forward to delving into would be a scorching dry heat until she was safely on the pill. Still, it would be undoubtedly better than staring at her from across the room.

We wiggled around until I was in the center of the daybed and Bella was straddling me, high on her knees. By the time we were comfortable, she was giggling at our maneuvers and it was wonderful, so freeing, to be able to join her carefree laughter.

My hands were at her hips to help steady her, as she didn't seem to have any more coordination during sex than any other time, but she seemed stable now, so I let my hands rove a bit, up her sides, up to cup her perfect breasts, up the sides of her neck, up into that beautiful tousled brown hair that carried her scent so perfectly. I had to lean up to be able to reach, and so pulled her down for a kiss while I was at it.

She sunk all the way down, and I laid back down myself. Her body was hard against mine, her softness conforming to my harder frame. Shoulder to hip I could feel her and it was the most incredibly sensuous thing. Except for the insistent throbbing in my cock, I would have been content to stay like this until Emmett knocked on the door.

Bella sighed. _It feels so right, _she thought, leaving a little line of kisses up my jaw. Her hands were in my hair, scratching at my skull in that delightfully relaxing fashion to which she'd taken. _Just laying here with you like this, it feels so right, so good. Baby, how am I supposed manage with out you, now? I don't mean this weekend, though that's going to suck. I mean the rest of the time. The Tuesday-Thursday idea is great, and I'm all for it, but baby it's not going to be enough._

"I could sneak into your room at night," I said, beginning to lay out one of my many plans to her, and hoping she would take it well. I had both of my hands cupping her beautifully round derriere as I spoke. "I can be utterly silent. Charlie would never know. I would hear him if he were to check on you. He would never see me, never know we were there, if we could be quiet enough."

She rose above me just slightly, her hands on the daybed above my shoulders, her eyes round. "Are you serious?" she asked, and I had no idea if she was a fan of this idea, or if I had just pushed beyond the pale.

"Only if you want it, love."

"_**If**_ I want it? Edward, that's _**perfect,**_" she groaned and ground down on me. _Can we start tomorrow?_

I could get an electric blanket for her bed by tomorrow. That was reasonable. "Of course," I said, and was rewarded by the feeling of the top of my cock sliding against the heat of her core. I groaned.

I could feel the muscles beneath my hands move and shift as she rolled her hips around. The latex certainly was dulling the sensation, but that was possibly a good thing, as I might last longer and not embarrass myself by reaching orgasm the moment she had me fully sheathed inside of her. I groaned again at the thought of it.

"Take your time, Bella," I ground out as she shifted, bringing my cock between the two of us. She leaned up, pushing back against my shoulders and sat back on her heels, fully astride me, now. She had my cock nestled up against that heat, and I could imagine what delicious lubrication was spreading all over the bottom side of my cock, now. She had her bottom lip tucked between her teeth as she moved her hips experimentally back and forth, my glans stimulating her clitoris in what she discovered to be a truly delightful manner.

She leaned over me, holding herself up with one hand braced against my shoulder, and the other hand reaching down to guide me into her. She rubbed me back and forth for a moment first, and I could feel the intensity of the dry heat increase as my tip got closer and closer to her core. I think I whimpered.

_Almost, baby._

She set me at her core then, and I seemed all in a moment impossibly large for the soft, spongy, tight, hot place I was about to enter. But enter it, I did. Or rather, Bella impaled herself upon me slowly, inch by inch – taking an inch, then raising back up and coming down to take another inch, and in this fashion she eventually consumed me entirely.

Inside of her was a tropical heaven.

_Edward, omigod you're so big, baby. Just gimme a minute._

I descended out of my haze to realize that it should have hurt her more than it did, given that she was a virgin. But I didn't know how to ask just at the moment, so I would save that question for later.

Back in my haze, I just wanted her to ride me hard. She was deliciously tight around me, and so hot it felt like flames without the terror, though I'm sure given enough time my body temperature would adjust to hers. As it was, she was like being inside the sun.

_Oh… yeah. I feel so… full. Baby, you feel so good inside me. Is this… Is this what it's like to be inside my mind? To feel this connected? This close?_

"Yes." I struggled to clear my thought enough to answer her. "This close, this connected. It's… delicious and erotic, like being inside of you. But it's… um," It was so bloody hard to concentrate. "Not sexual."

"How can it be erotic and not sexual?" she asked, but her focus slipping too, and she barely got the question out.

"I don't know, it just is," I ground out.

When her muscles involuntarily clenched around me, all I wanted to do was flip us over and pound into her. I groaned instead.

"Bella, do that again."

"I'm not sure what I did," she gasped.

"It was your kegal muscles," I explained with a groan. It was nice to know that two medical degrees weren't purely an academic exercise after all. "Clench up tight, like you are trying to stop urinating."

Then she did it on purpose, longer and harder, and I knew I was in heaven. My groan turned into a growl, though it was short.

_I'm going to have to practice that._

"Please do," I said.

_So does this, _she thought tentatively, rolling her hips and squeezing me tight again, _feel good for you?_

I whimpered in response. Condom or not, I wasn't sure how long I was going to last. It was a good thing that the rest of them were still within arms reach.

_What about this? _She asked as she raised up and I came almost completely out of her.

She hesitated there, and it felt like I was going to die. "Bella," I whimpered. "Please," I begged.

She smiled and dropped back down to me, hard, but then the smile was wiped off her face and replaced with a look of wonder. We both cried aloud.

The urge to pull her hips to me was so strong I let go of her and put my arms behind my head, forearms together, and grabbed my elbows and vowed not to let go until I came. Which might not be so long from now.

_So sexy,_ she thought as she rocked on me, her hips grinding into mine, my cock buried deep inside her hot, clenching core. Her eyes traced the lines of the straining musculature in my chest and in my arms. She wanted to devour me. I wanted to let her.

She rocked harder, alternating the wonderful rolling motion with her hips with occasionally lifting all the way up until she just held the very tip of me inside her before she would sink back down again and I would be once more sheathed perfectly where I belonged.

She cried aloud each time her hips rolled up, now, and her rhythm was getting faster, harder. Each time she took me to the hilt, a little snarl escaped me. I watched her as she rode me, a glorious wanton display of her affection for me, one hand in her tousled hair, the other marked by my token digging through her curls as she sought satisfaction for both of us.

I lasted longer than I would have thought, but if nothing else, the sheer erotic sensuality of watching and hearing and feeling Bella come to her own peak astride me would have brought me to my bliss in one of her own heartbeats.

I came apart keening her name, the needy sound almost unrecognizable to my ears. It hurt not to be able to crush her to me, to have to keep myself away like that, but I suffered in bliss, feeling her tighten impossibly around my shaft, her own orgasm milking mine from me, trapped though it was in the condom.

"Oh, baby, yes, yes _yes!" _she cried as her entire body stiffened over me. Her orgasm was short and sharp and when she collapsed on top of me I was still in the midst of mine. I rolled my hips up into her then. I had no leverage and it was just as well, but neither was I quite done. She sighed little groans each time I flexed up into her, needing just a little more, a little farther. It wasn't until she reached her tongue out and licked my neck, my favorite spot that I could feel myself really start to peak.

When her lips closed around my neck and she bit down, sucking and licking even while she moaned, I truly lost my mind. Her hands were on my biceps, clenching and scratching as I screamed her name.

Several moments later I was able to come to myself. I began to soften, and mindful of the instructions I was given, I slipped out of her – much to her consternation - and relieved myself of the condom, tossing it in the garbage can across the room.

She whined a little when she felt me come out from within her. "Condom," I murmured to her in explanation, as I held her closely, gently cradling her in my arms. We were content, then, both to hold the other. Our ardor had been sated for the moment, and there was no where else I would rather be than to be holding her like this.

Ten minutes later she began to shiver. Blankets. How short sighted I am. Naked activities and a boyfriend like an icicle – of course blankets would be helpful.

There was a knock on the door, then. "Special delivery," Alice called out quietly. I heard her walk away and back down the stairs before I shifted Bella so she was on the daybed alone.

_You can't be serious!_ she protested.

"Trust me," I said. Without being able to hear Alice's thoughts I couldn't be certain, but I was really hoping it was the comforter off her and Jasper's bed.

I opened the door to see the perfectly folded bright yellow down duvet. I picked it up and closed the door, returning to Bella.

_I take it back. Alice is wonderful__. How did she know?_

I smiled. It was a conversation for another time. For now, I crawled back onto the day bed with her, facing her on my side and pulled the blanket up around both of us.

Bella sighed and my night was perfected.

***

End Chapter 6

***

Good, bad, ugly? Better than coffee or a cute guy staring at you in a coffee shop? (Seriously, what is with that guy across the way? Brooding guys in practice are slightly less interesting and much less engaging that brooding guys on paper.) Please do review and let me know. (And help me break through my writer's block for chapter 7, eh?)


	13. Integrity, Courage, Perpetuity, part 1

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P, with much love, because she is the Grand High Inquisitrix of Plot and Character Development.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.  
**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

**Author's Note: **To those who are worried about pacing and Bella's characterization… trust me.

***  
Chapter 7: Integrity, Courage, Perpetuity, part one.  
***

Bella groaned. I continued my caress of her hair, waiting to hear what this was about.

_I don't __**want**__ to move!_

I raised an eyebrow. Who said she had to move?

She burrowed in deeper next to me. Her head was laying on my bicep, one of her legs in between my own, and both of her arms were folded up against my chest, and my arms were around her. We had just had two hours of blissful sex, and another half hour of quiet cuddling. It was half past six in the evening and Emmett wouldn't be back with the pizza for another hour. I didn't have to drive Bella home until just before nine. The gentle rhythm of her heartbeat was like a quiet drumbeat prayer to God on both of our behalf. We were exquisitely comfortable and there was no need to move. What was her problem?

Bella sighed and wiggled. She was on the wrong side of the daybed if she wanted to actually get out of it.

"I have to get up, Edward."

"Why?" I was incredulous.

_Because I have to pee, vampire boy. Now let me up and show me where the nearest bathroom is. Your very human girlfriend needs a minute to be human. It's not all pizzas and fragile skin, you know._

I was a thoughtless idiot. I sat up immediately and swung my legs around so that she could have free access.

"I'm sorry," I said, steadying her as she sat up and wiggled over to the edge of the bed. "That was thoughtless of me." I pointed to the open space near my door were the half wall that held my music ended. "Right around there," I said. She leaned over the edge of the bed and grabbed the white oxford that had been underneath my sweater all day. She slipped her arms through it and I was about to comment on her sudden bout of modesty when her thoughts caught me off guard.

_Smells like Edward, _she sighed. Then she hopped up and went to use the bathroom. I gave her a head start, but after I heard her flush the toilet I wandered in. Perhaps I would draw a bath for the two of us, now.

She was washing her hands when I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her. I sort of liked seeing her half dressed, wearing nothing but my crest and my shirt. I wondered how I could get her to take the shirt with her, and if she'd even be amenable to something like that. I wondered what she would do if she woke up and it was just there…

_You have no idea how happy I am that the vampires stock toilet paper._

I laughed. "I'll make sure that Esme remembers to buy it when she's shopping."

_Much appreciated. It's not something I want you to run out of._

"How are you feeling?" She was finished using the sink, and so we stood together, she still directly in front of me, looking at each other in the mirror. My hands had slipped inside the opened shirt and rested on her abdomen. What can I say? I loved it.

_Pretty fabulous. You?_

I smiled at her. "Are you sore at all?"

She shrugged. _A little. But it's a good kind of sore._

"What do you say to a nice, hot bath?"

She looked immediately interested. "Would you be joining me in that nice, hot bath?"

"Naturally," I said, smiling.

_Well, then, I say okay._

I ran the water, with her help on deciding just what temperature was acceptable. I scented the water with some of the body wash. When I slipped in behind her the temperature was shocking, but the feeling of her body against mine was delicious.

Bella sighed against me. "Edward, it feels like I've known you forever."

"I wish."

"Eighty-seven years," she said, picking up my hand and looking at it. I obeyed the pressure she was using, turning my hand this way and that for her to examine. "What was it like?"

"Don't want to wait to actually read the journals?"

_They'll give me a certain perspective, I'm sure. But won't you answer the question?_

"Well, I didn't know what I was missing, which was probably a good thing. I never had to experience the kind of intense loneliness that Carlisle suffered, or the confusion and dissatisfaction of coming to a conscience later in life, like Jasper. I mean, I can read their thoughts, see their memories when they think of them, but that doesn't mean I understood their experience. But I did have plenty of time to pursue my interests. I've studied languages, music, medicine, history, biology, physics, astronomy and law. Psychology has come quite far. I think I'd like to study that next. Theology might be interesting.

"I don't sleep, I don't get tired, and I only need to eat once every few weeks. It means that I have plenty of time. Add to that the fact that our minds seem to processes things much faster, and we remember most if not all of what we experience with perfect clarity, though of course our view is still subjective… Well, it's a good thing I'm curious. I don't actually mind being a perpetual student, high school aside. Given that I appear so young, it's about all I can do, if I want to live a life in public."

I broke off then as I recalled that in the past few years I had been anything but curious. I had grown increasingly bored and jaded with life, but it had come on me slowly. Not even music, the one thing in life for which I had passion, had helped by the end.

The end. Even now, my life was separated into the time before Bella and the since Bella. I shied away from the idea that there could be a time after Bella.

I decided to be honest. It was harder that I could have imagined. "But the last… I don't know, decade or two, it's been hard," I whispered. "I didn't notice at first, but it was like I was slowly dying inside. I mean, not me, but something vital within me – my capacity for joy, for peace, was dying."

_And now?_

The corner of my lips curled up into a small smile. "And now… you've revived it. Thank you." I kissed the top of her head.

"Bella," I began, a much larger grin on my face now. "Are you going to ask me to the spring dance?"

_Ugh. No._

"Why not?"

_Because me plus dancing equals disaster, that's why._

"I told you, I have enough coordination for the both of us, even for a dance."

_I doubt it. You have no idea what I'm capable of._

"Perhaps not. Neither do you have any idea of how graceful I can be."

_So you agree that I'll look like the Lesser Mountain Troll beside you._

Trolls. I wish. They'd probably taste pretty good. "That's not what I meant, and you know it. I meant that before you even begin to fall, I'll steady you. I won't ever leave your side, if you don't want me to. I'll even be happy to faun over you in front of Jessica Stanley, if you like. And when it comes to dancing – just dance once with me in the meadow, _**just once**_, and I'll prove to you that I have coordination enough for both of us. I promise you."

_I have nothing to wear, _she thought, her mental tone somewhat petulant, but I could tell that if only I could address her fears completely enough, she might see reason.

"Alice would love to dress you. In fact, I'm sure she's deciding on the perfect outfit for you even now. You wouldn't have to worry about it. She could come over and help you get ready. So will you? Will you ask me to the dance?"

_Why is it important to you?_ she asked, and I knew I had struck gold.

"Because I adore you," I answered honestly. "I want to seize the opportunity to dress up and dance with you, to hold you and kiss you in front of our peers. Because I think it could be a beautiful experience for both of us. I want to go, Bella. I want you to ask me. I'm prepared to make it worth your while. I'm happy to lavish you with love, attention, gifts, sexual favors, and fulfill odd requests."

_Odd requests?_

"I thought I might as well cover my bases, just in case."

She snorted her amusement. "Just out of curiosity, what would you do, spontaneously and without prompting, to make it worth my while?"

"Off the top of my head, without of a greater sense of what you might appreciate?"

She nodded.

"I was thinking I might offer to pleasure you with my tongue, orgasm after orgasm that night until you finally sleep from sheer exhaustion."

_Oh, my._

"And the next day treat you with a special outing, private, just the two of us. A picnic. I'll feed you strawberries as you lay with your head on my lap while I read Romeo and Juliet to you."

_Romeo and… How did you…_

"Or Dracula," I added quickly. "Whatever you like."

She snickered, and I realized I was off the hook.

"Edward, would you accompany me to the spring dance?" she asked. I could tell from her tone that she wasn't entirely sold that the experience would be a resoundingly positive one, but she was willing to risk it, and that was all for which I could reasonably hope.

My arms slipped tighter around her, one hand rising to cup one of her beautiful breasts, the other hand remaining on her abdomen. "I'd be honored, Bella. Thank you for asking me."

"Yea, well. I'm counting on you catching me before I fall and I will demand strawberries the next day. You do realize they're not in season, and Forks' one grocery store doesn't have them in, right?"

"If you want strawberries, you'll have strawberries," I responded.

"And I'm not sold on the idea of dancing, just so you know. I mean, I'll go, but that doesn't mean I'll dance." _I don't think you truly appreciate just how seriously clumsy I am, Edward._

"Will you promise to reserve judgment until I have an opportunity to show you what I mean, outside?"

_No. But I'll think about it._ She shivered then. _Bath gets much colder much faster with a frigid vampire__ in it. _She leaned up and let some of the water out before turning the hot water on to fill the tub back up.

"I'd warm up eventually," I said. But of course, as much as I would warm up, she would cool down. Second law of thermodynamics. It's why we needed an electric blanket. I would never be able to lay with her for long without some barrier to keep her warm, or some other source of heat to warm us both.

We lay in silence after that, and I listened to the minutes tick by in the soothing rhythm of the beating of her heart. Inside of Bella's mind it was soft and warm and not busy at all just at present. She was calm and relaxed, her mind peacefully blank, and the silence was blissful. Three more times Bella leaned forward, let some water out of the tub and filled it back up with hot water. The last time she let half the water out before filling it again.

_You really are just a giant ice cube, aren't you?_

I smiled. "I'm much warmer, now."

_How can you tell? I mean, what does it feel like? Is the cold uncomfortable?_

I was playing with her hands, now. They were so much smaller than mine. They didn't seem particularly delicate, but they were incredibly fragile nonetheless.

"It's relative. I mean, if something is colder than I am, it feels cold, if it's warmer than I am, it feels warm, or hot, but there's nothing uncomfortable that goes along with that sensation. I think we're normally just a few degrees colder than the ambient temperature. So, if I touch Alice's hand, it will feel normal to me. If I touch yours," I said, holding her hand between both of my own. "It feels hot, usually. Now it just feels warm, because the bath has warmed me up. And you. You've warmed me as well."

_I heat you up, do I?_

I laughed. "Sadly, not like that. I don't generate body heat, Bella, even when I'm excited. I meant that I was stealing yours."

_Does this mean we can't snuggle? Or, not for extended periods of time?_

"You might be interested to know that I have a plan for that," I said.

She chortled. "Of course you do." She turned slightly, leaning off to the side so she could crane her neck around to see me. "You like it when things go your way, don't you?"

I shrugged and raised an eyebrow, but couldn't keep the half smile from my face.

_This explains a lot, come to think of it._

I reached for the soap and worked up a lather in my hands before starting to gently massage her skin, every inch of her arms, between her fingers, her shoulders.

_Don't get my hair wet. I don't want to have to explain that to Charlie._

I buried my nose in her hair and inhaled. She smelled delicious, and she would return home smelling like me, after all. Not so much that her father would notice, but enough to make me smile. And to make me hard.

_What are you thinking of that's making you so hot and bothered? Okay, not hot. Just bothered. Though you are hot. But, you know, just not temperature-wise. So, what are you thinking?_

"Of how much I love your hair," I said, my hands returning for the soap for more. "Of how much it carries your scent, and now mine." I washed her torso, lingering over her breasts, her beautiful abdomen. I took up the soap again so I could wash her legs. "Of how when you return home tonight, and lay your head on your pillow, when you rise again it will smell of not just you, but me as well. And perhaps you wouldn't be able to even notice it, but I could." I leaned her up then, and washed her back, holding up her hair with one hand. I rinsed her back and her arms while I was there. I laid her back down on my chest then, curling her hair into one long tendril so I could lay it on my shoulder where it would remain somewhat dry. I rinsed her torso before going back for more soap.

"_**I'd**_ be able to smell you on my pillow if only you'd share it with me," she pointed out.

I smiled. It was true. I washed her intimately then, her body cradled between mine. When I had two fingers thrust into her and was thoroughly enjoying her cries and undulating motions against my own form, I heard two very conflicting thoughts warring in her mind.

_Water: good for foreplay, bad for sex._

_Yes, Edward, oh, yes!_

My fingers slowed and gently left her, resting on her thigh. "What was that?"

"Huh?"

"Water: good for foreplay, bad for sex."

_Oh no,_ she thought, and then there were a barrage of memories, but I was ready for them. I was getting used to the tone of her mind, her quirks and patterns, and now I knew what her mother looked like and didn't have to guess.

I watched her flush red with embarrassment and watched with great interest to see how far down the flush would go. It didn't quite go down to her beautiful breasts, but it was close.

It seemed that Renee had taken Bella aside at some point – a while ago, though what that meant I had no idea – and had given her quite a sex talk.

I wondered if she still had the little pink dildo.

"You lost your virginity to a piece of pink silicone," I muttered, hard pressed to maintain a straight face. I was gifted in that instant with the memory, and watching Bella experiment with sex when she wasn't remotely aroused, and thus without huge amounts of success was both endearing and strangely erotic. She'd certainly done much better last night.

"That doesn't count," she muttered in return, her tone mutinous.

"It explains why I didn't tear your hymen," I pointed out.

_Well, I didn't feel much then, either, so there._

Her body was tense against mine. I wrapped my arms around her middle again, just holding her.

"Are you upset with me, Bella?"

"No," she said, her tone clearly stating her lie.

"I'm sorry for teasing you, love. I really am glad that you had that conversation, that you'd already experimented, that you felt as comfortable as you did."

"I bet you are," she muttered, her feelings obviously still sore. She remembered part of the conversation in great detail then, and I heard her mother's voice echo in Bella's mind.

_Now, you can swallow or you can spit__, and depending on what he's eating, it might taste good to you, it might not. Now, a good place to start is to have one hand on his balls – but gently – and one hand at the base, right here. You can squeeze much tighter with that hand. Then you just pop the top in your mouth. Use your tongue, not your teeth, and suck. Do what you like, listen to what he likes, and never do something you're uncomfortable with, okay sweetie?_

I grinned hugely, remembering the amazing sensation of Bella's mouth and hands on me just a few hours before.

"Bella," I called out to her softly. I leaned toward her ear and brushed my lips along the lobe of it. "At least you had the security of your mother giving you an honest talk in the privacy of your home. You didn't have to find out from misinformed friends, or heaven help us all, Emmett in Spanish class."

_No! He did not. Seriously. What did he say?_

I laughed. "I'll tell you later."

_Why? No one's around, it's just us. I mean, no one can hear—Edward. How good is your hearing?_

"Pretty good," I hedged.

_How good is pretty good? And I mean the sort of hearing you do with your ears. If, say, I was speaking in a normal voice and you were downstairs, would you be able to hear me?_

I nodded against her, knowing that she could feel silent answer.

_Oh._ I could tell she was somewhat horrified.

"There are no secrets in this house, Bella. Just acceptance," I murmured.

_This is __**so**__ not normal._

"I thought you'd given up on that by now." Then I thought again. It had only been three days. It really was quite a lot to assimilate for a human, I was sure. But she had been doing so well up to this point. I hoped she would continue to do well, working this new way of being into her worldview.

_So when I go downstairs and eat pizza and we do homework and I meet your father, they're all going to know that we were up here having sex? I mean, they're not just going to suspect it, or assume it, they're going to know it because they heard us both very clearly?_

"They may even be impressed with us that we're showing such restraint for a newly mated couple. Apparently none of them did."

_When you drive me home I want you to explain exactly what you mean by that. __Speaking of which, are you going to… um… come over tonight? You know, like you mentioned before? Sneaking and being quiet?_

"I don't think that would be a good idea. I need to get some supplies, first."

_You have condoms. Not that I'm saying we need to have sex. But, you know… You have condoms._

"But not an electric blanket, to keep me from stealing all my love's body heat during the night. But perhaps I'll come and give you a goodnight kiss."

_Ooo. Something nice and long and lingering?_

"If you like."

_I like, I like. So, what do you do at night?_

"The same thing I do during the day."

_Go to school and wallow in your girlfriend's mind?_

Well, not the school part… I shrugged. "I read. I play music. I study languages. I talk with my family. I hunt, if I need to. Whatever it is I feel like doing."

_What will you do tonight?_

"Drive to Vancouver. It's the closest place that will have stores open all night."

_You're going shopping tonight?_

"I need two electric blankets, or weren't you paying attention?"

_You're going to do that tonight?_

"Sure. Why not?"

_What else?_

I hadn't thought that far. I'd probably just go and stand in my favorite tree and listen to Bella breathe, listen to her dream. Still, I wasn't sure my honesty could stretch that far just yet. I shrugged instead. "I haven't decided," I said, which was true enough, after a fashion. "Order a bed, if Alice or Esme hasn't already done it."

_They might have already done that?_

I shrugged, and heard Emmett pull into the garage.

"Pizza's here," I said.

_How do you know? Can you smell it?_

"Not yet. But I just heard Emmett pull into the garage."

Then I heard Emmett respond in his normal speaking voice, a tone Bella would never be able to hear from such a distance. "Time to get out of the tub, Romeo. 'Sides, Rosie got you a present. She says you can thank her later by convincing Bella to leave her truck over here for a month."

I resisted the urge to smile.

Then I heard Alice pipe up. "And yes, we have already ordered your bed. Queen, low to the ground, six fluffy pillows, with a very slight headboard in a dark wood. You'll love it. It will be here by Tuesday afternoon, likely before we get home. Now get down here."

"Bring in Bella's backpack, will you Emmett?" I asked in the same normal voice.

_That is just so weird. Are you guys having an entire conversation?_

"Aw, man! You guys were serious about doing homework? We wanted to hang out with Bella!" Emmett said, returning to the garage to get Bella's bag.

"We can still hang out. You could do yours then, too, you know," I pointed out. "Homework," I clarified to Bella. "Emmett's whining. He wanted to hang out with you."

_Why would Emmett want to hang out with me?_

"Because you are charming and witty, because I adore you, and because he finds you amusing. Also, I think he finds me amusing when I'm around you."

_How are you different when I'm around you?_

"For one, I'm in your head. I can't hear them, and they're not used to that. Also, I'm a hell of a lot happier than I have been in a long time."

"Try forever," Emmett pointed out from the kitchen. "Plates, plates," he muttered, opening cabinet after cabinet. "Don't we have any plates?"

I ignored them after that, turning the focus of my attention back to Bella.

"Your dinner is here. We should get dried off."

We drained the tub and I took the opportunity to dry Bella off slowly, wrapping one large towel around her shoulders before I started at her feet and worked my way up with another towel. When she was finished I dried myself off quickly, watching her slip into the same shirt she'd walked into the bathroom wearing.

"I have to admit, I'm rather partial to seeing you wear that."

_I have to admit,_ she thought, _I'm rather partial to wearing it._

That decided it. If she didn't take it home with her, I was bringing it back to her tonight.

We got dressed, she at her normal speed and I at mine, which meant that I was finished before she'd gotten her bra and underwear back on.

_Geez, you're like Superman in a phone booth over there__._

I smiled at her and folded up Alice and Jasper's yellow comforter and laid it on the couch while I waited for her to finish. I opened the door for her when she was ready, holding the journal she'd laid out on the desk. I was bemused when she went to pick up the box of condoms. She took two out and put the box back. She could see the question on my face as she came back toward me.

Bella smiled and when she was close enough, slipped the two condoms in the front pocket of my pants. She patted the pocket and reached up to peck me on the cheek. _For later, just in case,_ is what she thought.

We came down the stairs together, and I heard Bella's stomach growl the moment she smelled the pizza.

_Sorry. Guess I worked up an appetite… _

I laughed.

_I've heard that some people get the munchies afterwards. I don't think that's true for me, but I'm kinda glad it's not true for you. Um, it's not, is it? No urge to snack on your girlfriend as of yet?_

Aside from the fact that I'd already decided on cunnilingus as my new favorite hobby, no, none at all.

She looked back at me when I remained silent, and I just gave a lascivious grin and watched her blush. Her mind immediately flashed back to her memory of looking down her nude body and seeing my head buried between her legs. Apparently I had been groaning quite a lot at that point. While I couldn't tell what she was feeling, she had a very strong memory of it being a mind-blowing experience. Even though she liked penetrative sex slightly more, she was the most surprised by what I could do with my tongue, and most particularly, what it felt like to her. She'd had no idea that I would do such a thing or that she might find it remotely enjoyable, to say nothing of the ineffably good way she thought of it now.

_I wonder if I could be quiet while you do that to me…_

I was willing to bet she could, if she needed to be.

***  
End Chapter 7, part one.

What say you, O Readers? Worth keeping? Click the green review button below and let me know.  
Love,  
Sarey


	14. Integrity, Courage, Perpetuity, part 2

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P, with much love, because she is the Grand High Inquisitrix of Plot and Character Development.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.  
**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

**Author's Note: **To those who are worried about pacing and Bella's characterization… trust me.

***  
Chapter 7: Integrity, Courage, Perpetuity, part two  
***

I took her free hand then and walked with her down the stairs. Carlisle waited for us at the bottom.

"Carlisle, I'd like to introduce to you Isabella Swan. Bella, this is Carlisle Cullen."

Bella offered her hand when she reached the bottom step, but then tripped before she was on level ground again. She tripped because she was literally blindsided by Carlisle's beauty. For the first time in my life I felt the incredible rage of jealousy sweep over me. It was much more overwhelming that I could have imagined. I caught her around the waist before she could fall, however, and I kept one hand on the opposite side of her waist, holding her close to me. I could feel Jasper sending me waves of tranquility. For reasons I wasn't entirely clear about, I was resisting him.

_This is so embarrassing! _Bella thought, of her tripping.

Carlisle just smiled, and took her hand.

"It's very nice to meet you, Isabella."

"It's nice to meet you, too, Dr. Cullen."

"Carlisle, please," he corrected.

"Bella," she said simply, nodding.

Rosalie was just coming back in the door then, and we turned to greet her. I still had my arm around Bella's waist. She had two extra large shopping bags in her hands from Macy's. I was curious – it was out of character for Rosalie to go to Macy's at all, to say nothing of doing something like that without Alice, our final arbiter of fashion. I was itching to know what was going on, but I didn't dare come out of Bella's head. In my constant state of mild arousal, I wasn't safe around her if I wasn't inside of her; I had already proven that to myself yesterday. I gave Rosalie a curious look, but she just looked enigmatically back at me, a tiny, wry grin on her face.

She took a detour by the sofa deliberately and took a package out of the bag and put it down on the cushions, but I couldn't see what it was. Then she ran up the stairs, and then up to the third floor and deposited both bags just inside _my_ doorway.

Had Alice gotten Rosalie to go shopping for me? I turned my head over to where Alice was standing, leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. I raised an eyebrow and she answered with a smile. I couldn't help the huge grin. Rosalie had gone out and gotten me at least one electric blanket, along with whatever else was in the bags she'd put in my room. No longer jealous in the least, my head was filled with visions of snuggling with Bella in her bed, all night long.

"Yo, Bella! You want some pizza, or what?" Emmett called from the kitchen.

Bella went to move, but I hadn't taken my hand from around her waist yet. It caused her to lose her balance again, but I steadied her.

_Um, Edward? I'd like to eat. Let go, or come with me, but stop anchoring me to the bottom of the stairs._

I moved my hand to the small of her back and went with her into the kitchen. "Do you want to do your homework while you eat dinner, Bella?" I asked.

"Sure," she said.

I fetched her bag and my own things and was back to her before she had a chance to ask Emmett where the glasses were.

"Beats me. I've never used one."

"Right hand cupboard by the sink," Esme called out from the living room.

I brought our school things to the dining room table and returned to retrieve Bella's plate of pizza. She followed me in.

"Can we join you?" Alice asked from the doorway, holding her own books.

I looked to Bella. She shrugged and smiled. By the time Alice moved gracefully and slowly to a seat the entire table had filled with my siblings.

_Whoh. Fast. _

"This is so cool!" exclaimed Emmett, bringing out his physics homework. "Finally someone dines at the dining table."

_What do you normally use it for? _Bella wanted to know, but had a mouth full of food and was unable to ask.

"Normally we just have family meetings here," I explained.

"You know, Edward," Jasper started, looking up from the English essay he was writing. "Now that your talent is otherwise occupied, I'd love to play chess with you – and see if you are any good when it's all on an even playing field."

Bella and Emmett both laughed at that.

_I forgot – you cheat, otherwise. That's right – you wouldn't be able to cheat, not if you're deep inside my head. Hmm. I guess this means I'm making an honest man out of you?_

I choked and wondered if she'd meant the double entendre. I don't think she did.

"Maybe. Let's finish this first."

Bella pulled out her assignment book and looked through it. Biology, government, and Spanish were on the docket for the evening.

We were quiet as we finished our work, but as we all stilled, Bella looked up. She was only part way through the reading she had to do for government class, and she hadn't yet begun Spanish. She put her half-eaten second slice of pizza down and glanced at all of us. We were all perfectly still, not needing to pretend to be anything but what we were.

_Um, yea. Sitting at the table, saying nothing, doing nothing.__ Okay._ She caught my eye and rolled her eyes at me, then bent back to her work, ignoring us all. She was determined not to get side tracked so that she might be able to finish as quickly as possible.

When she finished her water, I refilled it. When she finished her pizza, absentmindedly nibbling on it until it disappeared while she read her chapter for government, I stood behind her and leaned over until I could whisper in her ear to ask if she wanted more. She shook her head and I cleared her plate, washing it and setting it in the never-before-used dish drainer.

I went to the piano then. I would play for her, softly in the background while she finished her homework. As I played, Jasper came out and set up the chessboard simply on the living room floor – not one of the monumental night-long games with four boards that he and Emmett sometimes played to their own rules, but just one board with 64 squares. Alice came out and took the electric blanket out of the package, removing all of the tags, stickers, bits of cardboard and safety wrap around the plug before refolding it.

"Do you want Bella to see this, or not?" she asked quickly and quietly.

I shook my head. It would only embarrass her. I would tell her on the drive home.

Alice quickly disposed of the debris and ran the blanket up to my room for me.

Emmett and Rosalie drifted out and Rosalie lounged on the couch while Emmett sat down for a quick game with Jasper. Given the size of the board, it wouldn't take long.

Bella had begun her Spanish. She rushed through the conjugations and quickly wrote out the twelve sentences she had to before closing her books and shoving them into her bag. She came out and put it by the front door, coming back to sit on the corner of the piano bench with me.

"Whoa speed chess," Bella said, watching the blur of Jasper and Emmett playing chess to the standard rules.

"Hah! I beat Jasper," Emmett said in a rumbling sing-song voice. They reset the board as I wound down the song.

"Come on, then, Edward," Jasper said. "Your doom is nigh."

"You think I can't beat you, even handicapped as I am?" I challenged him. I got up and took Bella's hand, tugging her along with me. I took Emmett's place on the floor and pulled Bella down into my lap.

"Oof!" _Okay,_ she thought, as she landed. Then she snuggled in. _Okay, I take it back. This is nice, too. _

I hunched over slightly, so I wouldn't have to lean back and forth each time I wanted to move the pieces on the board. I still had one arm around Bella – I would only need one to play chess, after all. She hand one arm around me as well, her arm laid across my back, her hand at the base of my neck, playing with my hair.

Alice came and sat down next to Jasper on the floor just as we had begun.

"I think it's so nice that you decided to ask Edward to the Spring Dance, Bella. You know he doesn't get out very much."

I snorted at that, but kept most of my focus on the game. Jasper had just taken my knight, damn it.

Bella just nodded at Alice.

"I've had some ideas for a dress for you. There are some beautiful things out this season. I could show you, the next time you come over, if you like."

"That sounds really nice, Alice. Thank you." _I like this not having to go shopping thing._

"No problem, Bella. I'd be happy to help you with your hair and make up that night, if you like."

"Sure," Bella replied, as I lost my other knight.

"Dude," said Emmett from his perch on the couch next to Rosalie. "You are so getting pounded."

"I want to help," added Rosalie, to Alice's conversation with Bella.

"Am not," I retorted to Emmett.

"Are too," Jasper said, taking one of my bishops.

_Charlie's gonna love this,_ Bella thought, imagining her father rolling his eyes at hearing three seemingly teenaged girls giggling through Bella's closed bedroom door. I didn't bother to tell her that Rosalie doesn't giggle unless Emmett and sex is involved.

And then my queen was dead, and my king was in check mate. Damn it.

"Best two out of three," I challenged as both Jasper and Emmett crowed in laughter. Rosalie shifted on the couch, suddenly very interested. Esme joined us then, and leaned against the arm of the couch while Carlisle was suddenly sprawled on the floor next to Jasper.

"I've waited almost ninety years to see something like this," Carlisle said, smiling.

Bella laughed then, and I looked up at her. She wasn't supposed to be laughing at me. She was supposed to be taking my side, here. But when I looked up and met her eye, all I could see was love through the mirth.

I let Jasper reset the board and kissed Bella instead. I had only just begun, my tongue slipping into her mouth when I heard Emmett call out to me.

"Focus, Romeo!"

We broke off our kiss then and smiled at each other. When Bella licked her lips I almost went back for more, but glanced over at Jasper instead. He was ready, and looking smug, as if he knew he couldn't possibly lose the game, now that I was inside Bella. I resumed my slightly hunched over position and begun again.

"There's nothing wrong with his focus," I heard Bella remark to Emmett dryly.

"Yea, yea, so we heard," Emmett said.

I could feel Bella's flush, the blood rushing to the surface of the skin on her face. I tried to do a mental inventory of my family to see if it affected them at all, before I remembered that I was inside Bella and couldn't. I quickly glanced up and looked at everyone, but everyone – including Jasper – seemed fine. I resumed my focus and captured his knight.

"Be nice," Esme said to him, then.

"Aw, Esme… How will Bella know we care, if we don't tease her?" Emmett asked.

Rosalie made a tsking sound with her tongue when Jasper lost a bishop as well. "Looks like he can still kick your ass, even when Bella has his brain wrapped into a pretzel, Jazz."

Jasper redoubled his focus and sent a wave of lust at me.

I was instantly hard, and imaging the room cleared and Bella taking me into her mouth as I sit here on the floor.

"Stop that!" I nearly growled at him, taking my hand away from the chessboard. I wouldn't play again until I could focus on the game. Naturally, since I wasn't using that hand, it ought to go on Bella's thigh.

_Edward, I am not making out with you in front of your entire family. A kiss was one thing, but if you think I'm doing anything else, you've got another think coming. Keep playing chess, already._

"Not until Jasper stops cheating," I ground out.

"Jasper!" Esme admonished. "Take it back and calm him down," she ordered.

I felt the intense desire for Bella ease somewhat, but Jasper hadn't created an emotion afresh, he'd really only intensified what was already there. And now that I was hard, it wasn't going away anytime soon. I glared at him. He needed to help undo what he'd done, or I wasn't going to play with him.

"Fine," he sighed, and I could feel the Jasper-induced calm sweep over me.

"You guys are like four year olds," Bella murmured. _You are all over a hundred, and look barely twenty. Meanwhile, my mother says I was born 35, and grow more middle aged, year by year._

I glanced up at her and smiled. She really was quite old for her age. It was something that I found very appealing about her. Now, all we had to do was some how tease out her inner child, and as Emmett would say, we'd be good to go. There was no rush, though. We had time.

I returned to the game and when the room erupted into laughter because Jasper had finally taken three pawns in a row and smirked at me for it, I heard Bella's little groan of discontent.

_I totally can't see what is going on. What's going on?_

"Jasper took three of my pawns."

The game progressed, and I kept Bella apprised of who captured what as it continued on. I beat Jasper that time, though it was close. In the next game, he beat me, much to the amusement of my entire family, Bella included.

"Best three out of five," I challenged. Jasper smirked and went about setting up the board again, but slowly this time. I took advantage of the opportunity to straighten up and turn to Bella.

She was grinning at me. _Your family seems totally amused about this. This is big, isn't it? I mean, you not being able to hear their thoughts? Really big. _I rolled my eyes in affirmation of her statement. I leaned in and kissed her chastely on the lips, smiling as I went, my open lips breathing in her scent as I gave her small kiss after kiss after kiss. I could feel her silent sigh pour over my skin. She was imaging other evenings spent here in this space with my family, in my arms on the couch, talking, laughing, listening to stories, playing games, enjoying one another's company. It was a fantasy we could well make true.

I won the next game, but Jasper won the fifth, at which point it was time to take Bella home. I scowled at Jasper as he crowed with laughter, but was caught and inexorably drawn back to Bella when I heard her thoughts on the subject.

_Clearly he needs this moment, Edward. Why don't you just make nice and walk me to the car, where I can then kiss you senseless?_

I helped her off my lap, then rose myself.

"It was very nice to meet you both," Bella said, addressing herself to Carlisle and Esme. They were standing immediately, smiling at her. "And thank you for dinner."

"I promise to have something better for you the next time you come over," said Esme.

"Welcome to the family, Bella," Carlisle said. I felt my heart strangely warmed at his words.

_Oh._ She glanced down to her left wrist where our crest lay.

I wrapped my arms around her then from behind, and we were both wrapped in a chorus of each person around us, Alice, Jasper, Esme, Emmett and Rosalie, saying one over the other in a brief cacophony, "Welcome to the family, Bella."

_Oh. _"Thank you," she said, and she looked down. I could feel her blush. I squeezed her gently.

"Let's get you home," I said, breaking the moment and pulling her away.

When we were alone in the garage she pushed on me with considerable force, all things considered, so I followed her movement and leaned against the rear passenger door of the Volvo. She kissed me hard, then, and took my breath away.

_I love you, _she thought as she continued to kiss me ferociously, her hands clenched in my hair, her hips pressing against mine. _I still want you, only there's no time._ She made a delicious whining moan in the back of her throat. _Please? More than just a good night kiss? Please, Edward? You said you'd never leave me unfulfilled at the end of the night, baby._

I tore my lips away from hers and kissed down the side of her neck, and then licked back up. "Rosalie got us an electric blanket," I murmured in her ear.

"We owe her, big," Bella groaned as I sucked the lobe of her ear into my mouth.

"She'll collect, don't worry."

_How soon are you coming back over, Edward?_

"Soon. I promise. I have to do a few things here, but I'll be there in a half hour – forty-five minutes at the outside, I promise."

_Quarter to ten. I'm holding you to it._

I smiled, imagining her holding me to lots of things.

"Come on, let's get you home. I need to impress upon your father that I'm trustworthy and prompt. In," I said, opening the door for her.

"So," she started. "Talk to me about 'a newly mated couple showing restraint.'" We had pulled out of the drive and with the doors closed, we have relative privacy. Of course, we also only had seven minutes. I tried to be brief.

"When vampires… find their partner," I said, trying to search for a delicate way to say this. "There's a period of time when they are sort of… I don't know… _obsessed_ with each other. Physically. It calms down after that. But everyone else in my family – during that space of time – made sure they didn't have many other commitments. Also, even if one of the couple was a human at first, they didn't remain human so long as you will."

"So," Bella said slowly, digesting my words. "It's like… a honeymoon period?"

"Exactly," I said, relieved that I had gotten through this part of the conversation.

_So it's completely normal that I'm utterly obsessed with you? That's kind of a relief._

I smiled over at her, always happy to receive a reminder that she and I had some sort of equality in the intensity of our feelings for one another.

_How long does the honeymoon last?_

"A while," I hedged.

"Edward," she said, her voice a reprimand.

"It depends. But… a decade seems to be pretty normal. Carlisle and Esme could restrain themselves after about four years. Emmett and Rosalie still can't, on occasion.

_Ten years? _"_Ten years?" _she echoed aloud, clearly shocked by the information. _I'm going to want to jump you every time I see you, I'm going to want to push you against the wall and stick my tongue down your throat – or better, suck you off – every time you look at me, to say nothing about when you touch me, or smile at me or intentionally try to dazzle me so you can get your way, for the __**next ten years?**__ Edward, when you're away from me, even for a little while, it __**hurts.**_

I was hard instantly at her words; very, very hard. I tried to concentrate on her entire statement, but I was mesmerized by the idea that every time she looked at me she wanted either to kiss me, or go down on me. I spent a moment fantasizing about what life might be like if she could have her wish.

For my part, I simply wanted a bed and I wanted us never to have to leave it. I wanted her already past her neonate year, and I wanted no other complications besides the need to hunt once a week with her – given her age, I'd make concessions to her thirst. Four hours of hunting for every one hundred and sixty-four hours of sex. It was a good ratio that I was looking forward to making into a reality. Soon.

I took her hand and held it gently. "It's okay, love. Carlisle – he's made a little study of it – and he thinks it's what helps to bond us together for so long. Partners… they seem to have an intuitive understanding of one another that allows them fulfill their emotional needs, and a fascination with one another that allows them to explore and fulfill their physical needs. It's part of what makes our bond so extraordinary. It's part of how vampires _can_ mate for life, perhaps, and part of why a mated pair of vampires has a much higher chance of survival than a single one. I suppose it's why you see covens of odd numbers – single vampires let loose from their sires, attaching themselves to a mated pair." I smirked over at her. "We need our ten years of obsession, Bella. Darwin says so."

She snorted and rolled her eyes at me, but we had arrived back at her father's house.

I dropped her off, walking her to the door and taking up her hand so I could lay a gentle kiss on her knuckles. "Goodnight, Bella," I murmured. She blushed, and I marveled at it, that she could still blush after the day we'd shared.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow," I said for the benefit of her father.

_Yep. See you in a bit!_

I mouthed the word 'out loud' to her, but she didn't get it. I whispered then. "Answer me out loud."

_Oh! _"I'll see you tomorrow, Edward," she said, blushing. I grinned at her. She had her bottom lip trapped between her teeth. It was hell, not being able to kiss her.

"Sleep well," I said, leaving her at the door and heading back to my car.

"You, too," she said, and I could hear the impish tone to her voice.

_And don't be too long!_

I pulled out of the drive and at a very predictable place part way down the street I could no longer hear Bella, I could no longer feel the embrace of her mind, and as it was every time I was pulled involuntarily out, the snap was almost painful. The sudden influx of unwelcome voices was like something sour in my mouth, though by the time I reached home I had acclimated to the sensation once again.

I heard Rosalie first. _I didn't drive all the way to Canada so you could waste your time over here, Edward. Get your ass in gear and get over there._

"I need to talk to Carlisle first," I said as I opened the car door.

"I already did," Alice chimed in.

_I'll have the prescription for Bella when I come home tomorrow, _Carlisle said, directing his thoughts to me._ I'll put it in Rosalie's name. She can start it immediately and it is effective the first day she takes it. She does need to take it at the same time each day, and if she's ever on antibiotics, you'll need to resume condom use. If you suspect that she has gotten pregnant, you must stop use. This should ease her menstrual cramps somewhat and regulate and lighten her flow. _

Damn. There had to be a downside. She still would _have_ a menstrual flow, though, so that was something.

_If she has any questions, please let her know she can call me and I'll be happy to talk with her._

Birth control prescription, check. Bed ordered, check.

I raced up to my room and put a third condom in my pocket. I couldn't actually imagine using all three, but then again, I certainly wouldn't want to be needing one without having one. I took up the pile that Alice had made on my bed – the blanket and my white oxford folded neatly – opened up the glass door and hit the ground running.

It was 9:15 in the evening when I got back to the forest outside of Bella's home. I lingered outside of her mind for a moment, just listening to her talk with her father.

"…and Jasper beat him in chess, several times." Three times, not several. Several is four. He technically beat me a few times, and I beat him a couple of times. "They played really quickly, like, speed chess. It was hard to follow. I think they're a very competitive family, when it comes to games, but everyone seemed to be having a really good time, even though we were all just watching the two of them go at it. And laughing," she said, laughing again. "But it was good. I mean, all of us doing our homework at their dinner table was a little like a study hall, but with pizza. And Alice and Rosalie are really nice. Alice is going to help me find a dress for the Spring Dance, and they both offered to come over and help me get ready. I'm kind of hopeless at that stuff, you know, but they're both very stylish. Mrs. Cullen was there when we all got there, and then Dr. Cullen was home by the time the pizza arrived. They're both very nice. Mrs. Cullen promised to make me something more interesting the next time I came over."

"Hmm," Charlie said. "So, you're all done with your homework?" There was a pause. "So, when is that next time going to be then?"

There was another pause.

"They're all going camping this weekend, so probably not till next week, I guess. I don't know, maybe Tuesday. I'll have to ask. I don't want to go over uninvited," she said.

"Bella… have you… and your mom… ever… talked… about…"

"Yes, Dad," she said quickly. "We had that talk. Don't worry."

"Right. Okay. Good. And you know that if you say 'no', that means 'no', right?"

"Got it. Um, Dad, I don't know if this helps you to hear it, but if anything, I think he's pretty much wrapped around my finger. Not that I'd abuse that power, of course."

At that I sunk into her mind.

_And naturally, _she continued on in her thoughts, _I'm wrapped around his, but that probably won't bring you any kind of peace of mind, Charlie._

Well, I thought, it was true. I was wrapped around her finger. But it was nice to know that it was mutual. I smiled and climbed in her window silently. With the same amount of silence, speed, and stealth I stripped her bed and put the electric blanket on top of the mattress pad, plugged it in and remade her bed. I kept it off for now – I didn't want her overheating, I simply didn't want to steal her body heat in the middle of the night. Her bed hadn't been perfectly made before, but I made it now, crisp and beautiful with her dark purple comforter on the top. Then I laid the white shirt on top of that, by the edge. Maybe she would wear it to bed. I put the three condoms in her side table drawer and located both some tissues and her garbage can for later use.

Then I waited. I stood in the shadows behind her rocking chair. From the door, I wouldn't be visible.

I listened to Charlie laugh at the idea of having me wrapped around his daughter's finger. Then he stopped abruptly. Bella had just pushed up her sleeves without thinking, and had bared our crest to her father's gaze.

"And what is that, Bells?"

_Shit! _"Oh. Um, Edward let me wear it. It's nothing."

Charlie snorted. "Bring your arm over here, let me see it."

_Shoot, shoot, shoot. Smooth move, Bella,_ she thought to herself.

"Now, I've never gotten a close look, but Dr. Cullen wears a signet ring. This wouldn't happen to be it, would it?"

_Shoot._

Bella must have nodded, because Charlie continued. "Bells… They're a good family, and I'm sure Edward is a very nice boy, but… This is a little bit beyond wearing his class ring, honey. How serious are you about this kid?"

_I adore him, and I'm considering bearing his children._

Bella answered Charlie non-verbally, and I wasn't quite sure how, but then after a very long pause, she spoke.

"I really like him, Dad. He's… special. To me."

"Yea, well. Don't get in over your head."

_Too late._

"Sure, Dad. I'm just going to go upstairs and read a while before bed."

"Thought you finished your homework?"

"No, I did. But we're reading Wuthering Heights in English, and I've already read that, twice. And it feels kinda strange not to be in the middle of something. I'll probably go the library this weekend and check it out, too."

"Gonna take Edward with you?"

"I told you, he's going camping with his family this weekend," she said, and I could hear the disappointment in her voice that she hadn't used with me around.

"Oh, right. You did say that. Well, 'night, Bells. Sleep tight."

"'Night, Dad."

She came up the stairs and into her room. I heard her gasp as she saw the shirt on her bed.

_EdwardEdwardEdward! Are you here? Of course you're here! Where are you?_

I grinned and waited for her to turn around.

She would have flown into my arms when she caught sight of me, if she hadn't tripped over the back leg of the rocking chair.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," I replied, setting her down on her own two feet, precarious though that perch apparently was.

"You're early," she said with a smile.

"I could go wait in the forest outside, if you like."

_No! I just need a couple of minutes to get ready for bed._

She didn't take long at all, and she returned wearing the partially buttoned shirt, and possibly a pair of underwear, though I couldn't quite tell. She closed the door quietly behind her and pulled down the covers so she could climb into bed. She looked at me from across the room and raised an eyebrow as she clicked her bedside lamp off.

_You were planning on joining me, right? You're on the wrong side of the room, and have way too many clothes on, besides._

I shed my clothes on the side of her bed by the window, unseen from the door. I debated for a brief moment just how completely I should undress – I did notice that Bella was still at least somewhat modestly covered, so I wondered if I should follow her lead. But then, I didn't need to walk through the upstairs, possibly in view of Charlie. I stripped and climbed in next to her.

We both sighed at the same time when our bodies came in contact with one another.

_Is it okay if we don't have sex? I mean, I'll probably regret this decision halfway through tomorrow, thinking about all the opportunity I had to jump your bones that I didn't take advantage of, but I just… I just want to lay here with you and maybe fall asleep with you just like this._

"Of course it's okay, love," I said, meaning every word. I stroked her hair and felt her breathing even out. In ten minutes, she was asleep. Her dreams that night were… interesting, and not nearly as anxiety ridden as they had been the last two nights. Two hours in, I turned on the electric blanket to its lowest setting and kept it on two hours, off two hours.

I wrapped her in my silent adoration, even as I wrapped her in my arms. Every moment that I listened to her heart beat, her breath coming in and releasing, her murmuring, and her dreams, every moment was precious, and I dwelt deeply in each one. Yesterday and tomorrow did not exist. I finally understood what the philosophers meant, because finally it wasn't important to me that yesterday and tomorrow exist for me to define myself. I now felt the freedom to simply accept what was going on, right now.

Holding Bella in my arms made it all the easier to do.

***  
End Chapter 7, part two  
***

Okay fair readers, lay it on me. What do you make of chapter seven? We're picking up the pace a bit, because in Microsoft Word we're on page 175, and really, I have no wish for my version of the Twilight Saga to actually span 2000 pages, but then, I don't think I'll need to, in order to tell a compelling story with my rules as they are. But you'll be the final arbiter. So what do you make of this chapter?


	15. First Blood, part 1

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P., with love, for enduring all manner of minor freakouts over the past 200 pages (plus future scene and character sketches) with grace and fortitude.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.  
**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

**Author's Note: **And then all my italics disappeared, in all two hundred pages of this document. And then I cried. It's true. But seriously. In the reviews, Jedi Buttercup discovered my secret motive for writing fic with sex in it. Is it just because erotica is fun? Actually, no. (Though of course, it is.) It's because so many of us have gotten and are still getting our understanding of sex – what it is to be in a sexual relationship, what sex is actually like, how and when and why to have sex, and what is 'normal' when it comes to sex – from the written word, from romance novels, from fic, from storytelling in any medium.

And so much of what is out there is utter crap.

It's not physically possible, or likely, it's unhealthy, and it portrays emotionally damaging situations in a positive light. Honestly, it pisses me off. So I have made it my mission in life as a thirty year old female priest who thinks that God made the clitoris for a reason (yes, I am a priest – I'm one of the cool ones) to provide an alternative narrative: stories where sex is present and described in really healthy ways between people who deeply love one another and are striving to have a healthy relationship. Obviously, these stories are for everyone – people who already know exactly what it is like to have healthy sex within a healthy relationship, plus all the people who are deeply in need of healing, because they know what it's like not to have healthy sex. And especially, I write for those who are just discovering sex, and themselves as sexual beings, so they can discover what healthy looks like, from the start.

So, God bless you all, and wish me luck.

***  
Chapter 8: First Blood, part one.  
***

The days sped by. I had glimpses of Bella during the days at school, but then she would sleep in my arms at night, and I would stay with her all night long, until her father got up. This is how it would be until we were publicly married, or until she 'went away to college' and was changed. I would have to make sure next year that our schedules matched up exactly. Lunch and Biology II wasn't nearly good enough.

Since she'd come over for dinner and homework on a Wednesday, I didn't see her in the afternoons for the rest of the week, cut short already due to the fact that we were leaving for our weekend hunting trip after lunch on Friday. We did have Thursday night together, of course. Bella started her birth control that night, but we were extra careful, using the condoms anyway. We discovered that when the situation warranted it, we could have amazing control and be utterly silent…

I was so miserable that weekend away that my family sent me home early, and I think it's safe to say that I won't be expected to go on extended hunting trips until the point in time when Bella can come with me. Bella was pleased to see me Sunday night, and I have to say, I was rather pleased to see her, curled up in her bed, reading my journal, wearing my shirt. Even with the journal closed and the lights off, she didn't manage to get to sleep for a couple of hours after I arrived. We both decided that sex without a latex barrier between us was much to be preferred, though it did necessitate more clean up afterwards. Sex was apparently quite messy. Her body simply didn't hold and absorb most of my ejaculate. Rather, ten minutes after we were finished, it slowly seeped out of her. Never was this mentioned in med school. My next sex-with-Bella investment was hand towels.

The next day it snowed and even though the very idea of snow horrified my love, I couldn't restrain my laughter when Emmett very gently lobbed a series of snowballs at the two of us on the way to lunch. Bella shrieked in horror, but I couldn't stop laughing. She tried to make a snowball, but it kept sticking to her mittens, and wouldn't form. When I made one and handed it to her, she didn't even come close to hitting Emmett. Her aim was terrible. She really did have no hand-eye coordination whatsoever. He laughed harder at that point, still across the way, gamely waiting for our retribution. I lobbed one off for her, coming out of her mind slightly so I could make sure that no matter how he wanted to duck, I could get him, but I don't think Bella appreciated my effort. She scowled at me for a solid ten minutes after that, well into savagely eating her chicken nuggets, but it was worth it.

_It's all fun and games until your socks are soaked through and you have snow down the back of your neck. Some of us can still get pneumonia, you know._

The next morning dawned clearly, though of course the sun was not to be seen in the sky. There was a layer of ice on most things, but it would melt by lunchtime. Bella drove into school and parked in her customary space across the lot from us, and she had chains on her tires. I wasn't entirely sure that the weather merited such an action, but neither was I willing to complain about any safety precaution she was willing to take in that entirely unsafe vehicle she drove. As usual, I was over at her door, opening it before she had a chance to do so.

_Edward_, she thought, greeting me with a happy mental sigh. All of the background noise in her mind circled around her musings on my beauty, which it normally did after she hadn't seen me for a space of time.

"Good morning, love," I greeted her.

She grinned. _You already said that to me once this morning. _

It was true. At five a.m. she had blearily opened one eye, and then been instantly awake. I left at six when her father woke up, but not before Bella reached orgasm twice, and myself once, all quite silently.

I leaned in and brushed my lips against hers, and today she did not pout, wishing for more. We both understood how we ought to act in public, and we were both assuaged by what we could do and did do in private, most every night.

_Your bed is arriving today, right? I mean, no more cold leather and borrowed blankets?_

I laughed and leaned against her truck, holding her hand in mine. "It should be arriving between twelve and two. Esme will make sure it is set up. We can christen it this afternoon."

She grinned a little, and in her thoughts I was treated to a brief fantasy of Bella riding me, coming to a very loud orgasm in the middle of a giant four poster bed.

"It's not a four poster," I said, and would have elaborated, but at just that moment I saw Tyler Crowley hit a patch of black ice and lose control of his van, out of the corner of my eye. His trajectory was changing, and I watched with interest as it changed. He was now headed straight for Bella's truck.

Pity.

With a speed I don't normally employ on school grounds, but with an exaggerated caution also, I took Bella into my arms and took seven steps away. We were on the grassy verge and I put her down, my back turned away from the impending crash, her body hidden behind mine should any glass break or small automotive parts fly about. I turned my head so that I could watch and make sure I'd made it far enough away.

I had, but I was sad that her truck didn't sustain more damage in the ensuing crash. The only thing in its favor when it came to Bella's safety was that it was, indeed, a sturdy old thing.

_Edward!_ "What's going on?" she asked, her tone frantic after hearing the crunch of metal and glass. Someone was screaming from across the lot, and someone else had called 911, which meant Bella's father would be here, soon. My family was running over, though running slowly.

"Tyler Crowley lost control of his car, and crashed into yours. He looks okay, though he'll probably have to go to the hospital. Are you alright, Bella?"

My family surrounded us now, the both of us in the middle of a very tight circle, and Rosalie already had her cell phone out. I presumed that she was calling a tow truck.

"I… yea… I think, yea. I'm fine."

"I didn't hurt you when I moved you out of the way?"

She held me tightly then, burying her face in my chest. _No, I'm fine. Thank you for saving me, Edward._ I caressed her hair and Jasper sent us waves of calm.

"Thanks, Jasper," Bella muttered, muffled from her face against my chest.

Bella looked up then, and around me to her truck. She moaned when she saw the entire side caved in slightly_. Oh, no! My truck! I don't have the money to fix this, and neither does Charlie, I'm willing to bet. There goes my mobility. And my freedom. Damn. Damn, damn, damn._

Then she overheard Rosalie on the phone, and realized what she was doing. When Bella looked at her full on, turning in my arms, Rosalie smiled and pulled her phone away. She had just been put on hold.

"What are you—"

"Don't worry, we got it covered," Rosalie said.

"But what… I mean, I can't let you—"

"You're family, so yes you can."

I bent down to be able to whisper in Bella's ear. "Rose likes to play with cars. Let her take on the challenge of your truck."

_Gosh, we are going to owe Rosalie quite a lot by the end of the month,_ she said, thinking of the electric blanket run Rosalie had done last week for us. I still didn't think mentioning Condom Testing Night was a good idea, but there was that, too.

"Letting her play with your truck actually evens us up, love. Let her help you."

She nodded. "Thank you, Rosalie. I really appreciate this."

"No problem, kiddo," she said before being taken off hold.

Then we all heard Charlie call out to Bella frantically from the other side of the parking lot. Emmett moved aside so Bella could be seen from within the circle of Cullens and Hales when she called back to him. He rushed over, and into the circle of predators. We could all see his hackles raise on the back of his neck. We dispersed slightly, Alice and Jasper to stand near me, Rosalie and Emmett to inspect the damage to Bella's truck.

"Bella! Bella, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Dad."

"So you weren't near the truck then?"

"Actually, if Edward hadn't pulled me out of the way, I would have been crushed by the van. But he did. He saved me," she emphasized.

Charlie stuck out his hand, then, and I shook it.

"Thank you, Edward."

"You're welcome, Chief Swan."

"Call me Charlie."

"I will, thank you. I don't know if you've met the rest of my siblings. This is Alice and Jasper," I said motioning to them and pausing as they chorused out their hellos. "And by the truck, that is Rosalie and Emmett. Bella gave Rosalie permission to fix her truck. I'm happy to drive Bella to school in the meantime, and when we're out of town camping, I can leave my car for Bella to drive."

"That's very generous of you, Edward."

"It's no problem at all, Charlie."

"You sure you're okay, Bells?"

She nodded. I still had my arms wrapped around her, my chest against her back, she still had her hands holding my own tight across her abdomen.

"Alright. Well, I need to go deal with this other yahoo who nearly killed you. See you later tonight, Bells – you still going over to their house to do your homework?"

She nodded. We all maintained a straight face.

"Alright. See you, then."

"Bye, Dad."

We watched as the ambulance came and took Tyler to the hospital. Our tow truck came, then, and Rosalie drove with him back to the house. I didn't think she'd be coming back to school today. Most of the junior class seemed to be getting ready to carpool to go to the hospital to wait and see how Tyler was going to be. We probably weren't going to have our first two classes at all.

"Do you want to go to the hospital, Bella?"

"Everyone's going," she said. "We probably should. I hope he's going to be okay."

"He'll be fine," I said, walking with her back to my car. "Let's go watch the circus."

Alice got in the back before we left, but Jasper wandered toward his senior level classes with Emmett.

When we arrived at the tiny regional hospital half way between Forks and Port Angeles, several of our classmates were pulling in as well. We trickled into the ER's waiting room, and Alice greeted Carlisle in a sing-song voice. He was nowhere in sight, of course, but he would be able to hear us nonetheless, and know that we were out here.

He came out to us sooner than later, and I was willing to bet Tyler hadn't even finished up with his x-rays yet. We stood as he approached, and he embraced Alice, first. I will admit that just the slightest tinge of my jealousy remained from Bella's first reaction to Carlisle. I had my arm around her waist. Carlisle came to both of us and enveloped us both in a hug, simultaneously, then kissed the top of my head and then the top of Bella's. I could live with that.

He backed away slightly and asked to be filled in. Alice spoke quickly and quietly.

_Geez, you people do everything super-fast, don't you?_ Bella thought.

Carlisle's eyes darted worriedly to Bella's. I didn't know precisely what he was thinking, but I could imagine it: Bella's mortality.

"Are you alright, Bella?"

"I'm fine," she assured him.

"I don't mean from the accident. When Edward ran with you – do you have any soreness? How is your neck? Did you support her head?" he asked me.

I shook my head. I hadn't. Shit.

Carlisle placed his fingers along the back of her neck, through her hair. "Is there any discomfort when I do this?"

Bella went to shake her head, but answered him in the negative instead, verbally.

Carlisle dropped his hands and turned to me. "Edward," he said quickly so the other people eavesdropping could not hear. "This probably won't be the last time you run with her. You must make sure she is supported and secure. The human body cannot withstand going from zero to one-twenty and back again in under a second. Slow starts and slow stops, only, unless she is in a greater danger, of course. She'll probably be sore tomorrow, so go easy with her in the next few days, alright?"

I nodded.

Carlisle turned his attention back to Bella. "I'm pleased you're alright, Bella. I hear Esme is making you a chicken caesar salad tonight, and Emmett was saying something about finally playing poker. I'll be home in time for dinner," Carlisle said, ending his remarks with a grin. I heard Jessica Stanley whimper beside us. She had been one of the eavesdroppers, but Carlisle's smile had stunned her.

Later that afternoon Bella rolled away from me on our newly christened bed, panting.

In an hour and a half, I had gotten her to the brink of orgasm three times before easing her away again, and each time her body temperature would rise and fall. It was amazing to watch. The fourth and final time I pushed her over the edge and watched as she fell apart in my arms. It was beautiful to behold.

She groaned. "I don't understand how you can even touch me, I'm so hot and sweaty," she pointed out. She pulled her hair up and away from her body as she lay on her side, facing me, and laid her topmost arm over her ear, bent at the elbow. She groaned again.

I smiled and slid myself closer to her, closer until long stretches of skin from the tips of our fingers to our feet were pressed against each other.

I moaned in happiness. "I like touching you, always." I slid my hand up and down her side as far as I could reach down to her thigh, up to her elbow, and then back down again, and again, and again. She shivered.

"That feels so nice," she murmured slowly.

Her scent was so strong, her skin so fragrant and delicious smelling that I leaned in and licked her neck, nosing her arm out of the way to get behind her ear, the back of her neck near her hairline.

Yes, it was true. She tasted as good as she smelled. It was about this point that my erection made itself known again. Bella giggled. I continued lapping at her skin, the salty tang sending a shiver down my spine. Bella giggled harder. Her body was limp against mine, all but her left hand, which was creeping down my side in a suspect manner, the leather cuff scratching at my skin as it went.

"Just ignore it," I murmured against her skin, speaking of the way my body seemed always to react to being pressed up against hers. It didn't help that there wasn't a stitch of clothing to hide her lovely, flushed, slick skin from mine.

Bella only giggled harder at that. I'd never seen her like this, but it made me smile. She needed to laugh more often.

I groaned when she raked her fingernails over my rear and up the middle of my spine to my shoulders.

_And if I don't want to?_

I groaned again. "We're supposed to be taking it easy, Bella."

"We are," she whispered, slipping her left leg up and over my hip. She reached around behind herself and helped to guide me into her slick, superheated core that was my true home. "Nice and easy, very gentle," she said. We both whimpered when I had pushed in as far as I could from this position.

I thrust very gently, moving in and out of her as she tightened around me as she liked, with no sense of rhythm. It was slow and gentle, and our tongues mimicked the languid movements of our bodies. Slow though the buildup was, my own orgasm came upon me suddenly, but with it came Bella cooing in my ear, holding me, encouraging me, telling me how beautiful she found me. She held me as I spasmed within her, releasing myself deep inside. I rested for a moment in her arms, breathing deep of the heady scent of our mutual arousal, utterly surrounded by my two favorite things in this world: her mind, and her body.

"Adore you," I said against her lips as I started to get hard again. I moved within her again as she pressed against me, holding me close with nails scratching at my back, her leg curled around my waist. An hour and a half from when she'd first declared that she didn't understand how I could want to touch her, she was crying out my name, clutching at me inside and out, begging me to go just a little harder so she could come. I did. I came as well, moaning her name, the litany of my adoration spilling from my throat and my cock simultaneously.

We showered together, and I held her hair piled at the top of her head. Despite Bella's very compelling fantasy of sinking to her knees and taking me in her mouth, it was a quick shower. She was pouting as we dried off.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "If you don't want to be disappointed, make your suggestions earlier."

"Fine!" she retorted, and I was thrown full force into a very vivid fantasy of being pushed naked onto Bella's own bed while she went down on me, wearing only the white shirt. I gasped and staggered against the bathroom counter. I could almost feel her lips around me, sucking. Before I knew what was going on Bella dropped her towel to the ground and was kneeling on it. One hand on my hip bone she caught my cock in her mouth and moaned.

I hissed.

_What can I say, Edward? I worked up such an__ appetite this afternoon. Now I'm really hungry._

I growled.

_I wonder how long I could do this to you, baby. I mean, we have to be quick now, but I wonder if I could do this for a half an hour. Do you think I could? Do you think I could do this for an hour? Sixty minutes of sucking and licking, and maybe if you're a very good boy, I'll throw in some nibbling? Your balls seem to be so sensitive – maybe I should lick them, too. I think I could do this for an hour, easy. I don't think I would get bored. My jaw might get tired, but you're like a playground, baby. There's always something else that is fun to draw my attention._

My growl was a sustained thing, now. One hand clutched at my towel, the other gently cradled the back of her head.

_Ooo, baby, yes. I'm getting wet all over again. Want a taste?_ she asked, releasing my hip. Before I knew what was going on, there were two fragile fingers in my mouth, coated in her nectar. I sucked on them, wrapping my tongue around them, and I could feel my balls tighten with the impending orgasm. I sucked harder on her fingers, determined to remove every last drop when suddenly I was tasting blood – drops of savory, satisfying, human blood. I was in a mindless haze of lust as I came hard, the most delicious orgasm I'd ever experienced.

_Yes, baby, come on. Come for me. You taste so good, Edward, yes, baby._

I was still nursing on her fingers as I came to myself.

Several things occurred to me at once.

There was no venom. I had produced no venom. My teeth had sliced her finger open very shallowly, and drops of her blood were oozing into my mouth, but I had produced no venom. There was no anticoagulant keeping her blood flowing even through the shallow cuts. Bella was not writhing in agony.

Bella was not writhing in agony. She was still cooing to me in her mind. She hadn't realized my teeth had brushed against her fingers. She didn't realize why I'd come so hard. She didn't know, and part of me wanted her to never know.

There was no bloodlust. Now that I had come to orgasm, my senses were clear. I was still nursing at her finger, my tongue lapping at her cuts, but my tiny source of blood had dried up, or my tongue had healed over her wounds, without the venom to keep them open.

Mindlessly I helped her up and she pulled my head down, pulling her fingers out of my mouth with an audible pop. She kissed me, her tongue sweeping into my mouth. I wanted to cry.

I broke the kiss off, unable to meet her eye. I didn't deserve her. I didn't deserve this. I was the worst kind of monster there was, gaining pleasure from drinking her blood, even while I took from her body. It was all too similar to my biology fantasy – seducing her into the forest, fucking her against a tree and then draining her blood as I reached orgasm.

I went in silence to go put my clothes on, unsuccessfully ignoring her silent pleas.

_Edward, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You said no__, and… and… and no means no, only I got carried away, and it's no excuse, and I'm just so sorry. I won't ever do anything you don't want me to, again. We don't even have to have sex again, if you don't want to._

She was dressing quickly. She was crying. I couldn't look at her, but I could smell the tears.

_Please, Edward, please don't ignore me. Please talk to me._

I couldn't talk. I couldn't speak. I couldn't let my family know my shame. But when I looked at her, I knew that her pain was as great as mine right now, and needless. I crossed over to her and pulled her into my arms. I shook as the soundless dry sobs wreaked hell with my breathing. I felt Bella's arms hold me tightly.

_Edward, Edward, Edward, what is going on? You have to talk to me, baby. You have to tell me, baby._

I couldn't. I couldn't speak. But I could write.

I dragged Bella over to my desk, and sat down in the chair, pulling her on top of my lap. She settled in, wrapping her arms around me and kissing me as I pulled over a fresh journal and uncapped my pen. My hand shook over the page.

_What is it, baby? What's wrong? You can tell me. You can always tell me._

"_I am a monster,"_ I wrote. _"I am evil, through and through."_ I dropped the pen and sobbed into her shoulder, gratefully accepting the comfort I could never deserve.

She had her hands in my hair, soothing me. _No. No, you're not. There's some other explanation. You're not a monster, Edward. You are not evil, not even slightly._

I shook my head, but she just held me.

_Why do you think you are so bad? Tell me. Let me be the judge._

I shuddered at the thought. _"You'll hate me for it,"_ I wrote.

She snorted. _I'm capable of being angry at you, Edward. I don't think I'm actually capable of hating you, and I'm willing to bet that of the two of us, I'm not the stern judge, __you are. So come on. Tell me. Tell me, Edward. Right now._

I caved. _"I bit your fingers. I drank your blood. It felt so good that I had the best orgasm I've ever had. I am a monster, Bella,"_ I wrote.

_You are __**not**__ a monster!_ she raged. _You are a __**vampire**__!_

"_**Same thing!"**_ I wrote with emphasis.

_This is ridiculous! I didn't even feel anything! And I didn't smell anything either! I don't feel woozy or lightheaded or anything like I do when I lose blood. __ How much did you take, anyway? Half a milliliter? Does that even count? _She withdrew her hand and looked at it._ I can't even tell where you bit me. If you weren't so distraught, I'm not sure I'd believe you did it._

_And so what if it got you off? I'm glad! I'm glad you enjoyed it, I'm glad I didn't feel anything, and I'm glad you didn't actually let go of my fingers until I had stopped bleeding entirely. If you want to do it again sometime, go right ahead._

"_You don't understand,"_ I wrote, interrupting her.

_Obviously. __And you're overreacting. Baby, we were having sex. Really great sex. So what if you got a little randy and got off on half a milliliter of my blood? I'm officially giving you permission to do it in the future._

"_It tasted so good,"_ I wrote, not sure if I was still upset about it, or beginning to accept the inevitable.

_Are you having issues with the bloodlust?_

I shook my head. Miraculously, I wasn't.

_Then why don't you just enjoy it?_

I groaned then, and gave in_. "It tasted __**so**__ good, Bella. The taste of your fragrant skin, and your luscious nectar that you'd coated your fingers in, and then, oh, God, Bella, then the sharp and delicious tang of your blood – lavender and freesia and life and love and all things good in this world, all there, mingling in my mouth, swirling around my tongue, filling my senses. I was inside of you, body and mind, and you were inside of me."_

She kissed me, then, and I kissed her back. I dropped the pen and forgot the journal.

_I love you, Edward. You can have a taste whenever you like. Remember that._

I groaned and rubbed my now painfully hard erection against her as she sat on my lap.

"Okay, kids," I heard Jasper say from the living room. "Now that the drama is over, come down stairs. Bella has her dinner waiting for her, and we all have our delightful homework assignments to complete."

I broke off the kiss with a short laugh. "We're being summoned," I explained to Bella as she peppered my face with tiny kisses.

"Then we'd better go," she said, holding me all the tighter.

"Yes, we'd better," I said, licking her neck.

"Ten seconds before I release Emmett," Jasper warned.

I groaned. "He's threatening us with Emmett."

"Hardly," Jasper remarked. "I'm warning you that I can't hold him for much longer. Nine seconds."

"Um, time to go, Bella," I said, standing up and taking her with me. I opened the door and ushered her out.

"Eight."

"We're coming!" I yelled.

Bella giggled.

"Seven."

Bella trotted down the stairs with me in tow. I kept a close eye on her, trusting neither her coordination nor her balance.

"Six."

"Is he counting?" Bella asked incredulously.

"And he can stop now," I pointed out as we rounded the flight of stairs and made our way down to the first floor.

"Five. Four."

Bella tripped, but I was in front of her before she could go anywhere. She had her arms around me and was kissing me even as she tried to get her feet under her properly.

_Sorry. Carpe diem, and all that._

"Three-two-one," Jasper said in one breath. The next thing I was aware of was Emmett, his arm around my shoulder, standing next to me on the step. Bella was still kissing me.

"It's dinner time for the human, Romeo. That means she's going to need her mouth back." Emmett ruffled my hair and Bella gasped, pulling back and nearly falling again. I caught her, again.

"And I don't want to hear any more shit about me and Rosie fucking on the stairs, okay? You officially have no room to talk."

I looked over to him, his face now closer to mine than Bella's. "She tripped."

"Uh huh. And you caught her with your tongue?"

"I did trip," Bella added.

"Bella," Emmett said in a voice that conveyed great disappointment. "Not you, too? You were such a sweet, innocent girl… only last week. And now you're covering for him, just because he gives you good head." Emmett shook his head, looking down. "Bella, Bella, Bella…"

"Emmett," Esme called with actual disapproval in her voice. "Leave them alone and go get your wife out from under that truck."

Bella laughed as Emmett shrugged, zipping away to coax Rosalie into being sociable.

Bella looked at me, still laughing. _Your family is a trip. But I like them_.

That was the first, but not the last time I bit her, if you can call it a bite, my tongue gently sliding her fingers across my teeth just before I lick away the precious drops of blood, sealing the cut, only to start again with another slide, another few drops of blood before my tongue seals that cut, too, whisking away the red ambrosia.

Every night Bella offered me her fingers as I came, and monster that I was, I could not refuse anything she offered me.

Our weekend passed in bliss. Her father was gone for the most part, working at the station. It was raining heavily, so we didn't venture outside. We laid on her couch and I read my journals aloud to her, and when I could take it no more, I read Pride and Prejudice instead. At night we spent a few blissful hours silently coming apart in each others arms, my control increased now to the point that I could hold her as I came, before she fell asleep to dream peaceful dreams of love and comfort.

It seemed that our existence would be utterly peaceful, right up until her change, but I should have known better.

Thursday night, after we had both skipped blood typing in biology, she remembered something she'd meant to mention to me earlier, and just as she was falling asleep to the sound of the rain and me humming a lullaby in her ear, her thoughts cleared up enough to tell me.

_We've been invited to the beach this weekend. I said yes. It's up on the Rez. Haven't been there for years. I always liked the tidal pools… _And then she was asleep.

I didn't wake her as I had gotten in the habit of doing, with my tongue buried deep inside her core. Instead I kissed her gently awake.

"We need to talk," I whispered softly to her, once her eyes fluttered open.

_Uh oh. Bad sign. Also, no morning head. Bad sign._

I cradled her to me and kissed her some more, to show here that I wasn't angry.

"Last night you mentioned that we'd been invited to the beach, and that you accepted for both of us. But I can't go, love. I can't go on the reservation," I explained quietly.

_Huh?_

She wasn't very articulate first thing in the morning, but we needed to discuss this sooner than later.

"They're a tribe of werewolves. Shapeshifters, really. They're our natural enemy, and they're quite adept at hunting us down. Only, Carlisle made a treaty with them a long time ago—"

_Wait, wait, wait, wait. The Quileute are a tribe of werewolves? My dad has been friends with them for ages! And there's never been any attacks, or anything._

"Well," I conceded. "They're not actually werewolves. They're not supposed to be dangerous to humans, but the young ones are, quite naturally, much like our young ones have no control either. They're shapeshifters that can only shift into giant wolves. It's genetic, I think. Still, I wouldn't want to test my theory. But the terms of the treaty are clear: they won't hunt us and they won't expose us so long as we don't come on their land, or taste the blood of any humans."

She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Presumably, they meant in order to kill someone, or make them into one of us. They really don't need to know what happens in your bedroom, or mine."

***  
End Chapter 8, part one.  
***

...thoughts? You know I want to hear your thoughts. Not in that Edward way, of course... More in that 'hit the green button and review' kind of way. But, ykno, if you want to type a stream of consciousness, that could be amusing, too. Part two up momentarily.


	16. First Blood, part 2

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Colleen P., with love, for enduring all manner of minor freakouts over the past 200 pages (plus future scene and character sketches) with grace and fortitude.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.  
**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

**Author's Note: **And then all my italics disappeared, in all two hundred pages of this document. And then I cried. But seriously. In the reviews, Jedi Buttercup discovered my secret motive for writing fic with sex in it. Is it just because erotica is fun? Actually, no. (Though of course, it is.) It's because so many of us have gotten and are still getting our understanding of sex – what it is to be in a sexual relationship, what sex is actually like, how and when and why to have sex, and what is 'normal' when it comes to sex – from the written word, from romance novels, from fic, from storytelling in any medium.

And so much of what is out there is utter crap.

It's not physically possible, or likely, it's unhealthy, and it portrays emotionally damaging situations in a positive light. Honestly, it pisses me off. So I have made it my mission in life as a thirty year old female priest who thinks that God made the clitoris for a reason (yes, I am a priest – I'm one of the cool ones) to provide an alternative narrative: stories where sex is present and described in really healthy ways between people who deeply love one another and are striving to have a healthy relationship. Obviously, these stories are for everyone – people who already know exactly what it is like to have healthy sex within a healthy relationship, plus all the people who are deeply in need of healing, because they know what it's like not to have healthy sex. And especially, I write for those who are just discovering sex, and themselves as sexual beings, so they can discover what healthy looks like, from the start.

So, God bless you all, and wish me luck.

***  
Chapter 8: First Blood, part two  
***

Her eyebrow was still raised.

"Yes, I know, in fifteen months we'll have a problem on our hands, but in fifteen months we'll also have a solution, so don't worry about that just yet. The point is, the Cullens are not allowed on Quileute land. I am obviously a Cullen. You are less obviously a Cullen."

_So I can go, but you can't? Even if we're just going to the beach with a bunch of kids from high school? I mean, they know me. I'm Charlie Swan's daughter, and you're my boyfriend._

"I'm also Edward Cullen, of Carlisle's coven, and you are – to anyone who has eyes to see – quite obviously my mate, despite the fact that you are still human. I'm sure there's a tribal song or two dedicated to the family, teaching the younger generation about us, whether or not they choose to believe."

_Choose to believe?_

"Who believes in vampires?" I asked, feigning incredulity.

_So, I won't go._

"Do you want to go?"

_Yes, but not without you. _She had a fantasy of watching the tide pools with me, knowing that I would keep her from falling in. I could tell she did want to go.

"I think you should go. Maybe you can meet some of the kids from the tribe and start reindoctrinating them to the joy of vegetarian vampires. Just don't fall in – the tide pools or the ocean, okay? I'll go hunting with Emmett that day. The bears are just waking up, and grizzly is his favorite."

_Will you be back in time for bed on Saturday?_

Saturday, which was tomorrow. "I'll have to leave this afternoon to do that, but yes. I'll leave the car with you today at school. You can tell me all about it tomorrow night."

_Where will you and Emmett go?_

"Goat Rocks Wilderness, just south of Rainier."

_Any mountain lion?_

"Maybe," I grinned.

_Good. Get one for me._

I growled lowly and rolled over her on the bed, trapping her beneath me, not that she seemed to mind.

"They won't taste like anything, compared to you. You are the sun and moon and stars, everything that satisfies. Mountain lion is like slightly spicy tofu compared to you." I leaned in and licked her ear. "Night after night I taste you, and you only get better. You're creating an addict, you know that?"

_What does that make me, your favorite brand of heroin?_

"Definitely," I growled and shifted my hips, brushing my straining cock up through her curls. She parted her legs for me, and brought them up and around my waist, locking her heels behind me.

_Please, Edward._

Our tongues intertwined as I pushed inside of her, thrilling to this new position and the amazing amount of control I had now, the level of control I'd only ever experienced with my tongue inside her core, but never buried there so deeply myself. I shifted and rocked into her, careful to make no noise with the bed, but that was harder than I would have thought.

Taking a moment to grab the sheet and comforter on top of us, I threw a pillow on the ground next to the bed, and before Bella could even ask, I had rolled us off the bed and landed us lightly on the floor. The sheet and comforter were wrapped all the way around the two of us, cocooning us together. I took a moment to adjust the pillow under her head.

"How are you doing?" I whispered.

_Fine. What was that about?_

"Your bed was going to make too much noise," I explained, threading my arms underneath her so that my hands could brace and hold her shoulders. "Tell me if it gets too rough, if I hurt you, okay love?"

She nodded and bit her lip, her eyes wide and expectant.

_What are you waiting for, you addicted, masochistic lion?_

I grinned and thrust into her, muffling her moan with my mouth.

Her hot, slick sleeve clenched around me as I drove in and out, a ceaseless rhythm I could maintain for the ages.

Or, I could have, if only her father had remained asleep. I really, really didn't like fucking Bella with Charlie wandering about only feet away. Call me paranoid. Normally I was gone by this point, but I wasn't about to leave right now. I took one hand away from her shoulders and squeezed it between the two of us to find the bundle of nerves that my pelvic ridge was brushing gently against with every thrust. I rubbed little circles and whispered in her ear.

"My sweet Bella. So beautiful. Won't you come for me?"

_Harder! Harder, Edward!_

"Tell me if it's too much," I whispered before pushing in deeper, holding myself in longer, pulsing inside of her.

_Silly man! I want too much! Now! Harder! Yes, just like that… just… like… Ooo, Edward. Yesyesyes… yesyesyes… yesyesyes._

Her orgasm was longer this morning, and at the tail end of it she slipped her fingers into my mouth.

_I think you should come too, you sweet man._

Never could I resist what Bella offered. I nursed at her fingers and exploded inside of her when the drops of her orgasmic blood hit my tongue. For the first time, I kept her gaze as I drank and came.

_You are so sexy._

I growled at her, still pumping into her willing body, still running my teeth and tongue over her fingers in tandem, still staring into her accepting brown eyes. I was a monster, I had accepted it, but I was her monster, and she still held my chain.

She shivered a little bit and had a very small second orgasm.

_Geez, I think my fingers are attached to my clit._

I growled at that and sucked harder, working my finger over her clitoris again as I spent the last thrusts of my own high within her. A moment later she had another very small orgasm, and I released her fingers, and lay my head next to hers.

Well, I had rolled over, and she wasn't hurt. This was good. Emmett would be proud.

_Oh, baby, that was a good way to wake up, too._

I snickered next to her, promising myself just another two minutes before I left to change, shower, and get the car.

While hunting with Emmett I was, predictably, miserable, even if it was only for thirty-two hours. But what if she _did_ fall into the ocean? What if she fell into a tide pool, got her foot trapped under a rock and died when the tide came in? It could happen. It didn't take an observational genius to see that Bella was seriously accident-prone. What if she did meet one of the Quileutes, but what if she met one that took the legends seriously? What if they saw her crest? It didn't actually have the word 'Cullen' imprinted on it, but what if they knew? What if one of our classmates let it slip that we were dating? What if Bella came out and actually said it herself? What if they were holding her hostage, or simply being cruel to her, ruining her day? What if they were planning even now to hunt us all down?

I should have warned her against it more strongly. I shouldn't have let her go.

It was good to give myself over to my senses and hunt, I will admit, but even though I did track and fell a mountain lion, as predicted, it really did pale in comparison to even the minute amounts of Bella's blood that I was ingesting nightly. I might as well just eat musk deer, for the amount of relative satisfaction I was gaining. I'm sure after being without Bella's blood for several years the taste would come back to me, but it officially no longer made a difference what I hunted for my sustenance. None of it could possibly taste as good as Bella.

Bella.

She was so good, so kind. I had utterly flipped out on her multiple times, and each time she knew exactly what to say, what to do to talk me down. And afterwards, I always felt that much closer to her, as if the pain and anguish had bonded us even more strongly to one another.

She was reading my journals, taking it all in, learning about my bloodlust and my melancholy both, and just accepting it. She was so accepting. Sometimes she made me fight for it, as with the slightly more trivial things, like the spring dance, but on all the matters that truly counted, she assimilated everything so quickly. Sometimes she was so credulous I wondered if it was all some sort of waking dream.

If it is all a waking dream, I hope I never find out.

I tried to tell all of this to Emmett, but he was deeply uninterested after the first two hours, and found the idea of Bella falling into a tide pool unendingly humorous.­ The time couldn't pass quickly enough.

I returned to Forks and to Bella as she was talking on the phone. She didn't realize I was in the room, so I took the opportunity so simply listen.

"No, I'm serious. I really like Forks. And that's sort of why I was calling, I'm sorry it's so late."

"_No, baby, you can call me whenever you want to, you know that," _said a woman's voice from the other end of the phone – it was obviously Renee.

"Yeah. Um, so there's… this guy."

Her mother gasped. _"I knew it! Who is he? What is he like? Tell me everything!"_

Bella laughed. It was beautiful. "He's really great. He's… really smart, and he's kind of an old soul, and he's super sweet, and his family is so nice, and…" she sighed. "Mom, he's… he's so beautiful, it makes my head spin." I smiled and folded my arms across my chest.

"_What does he look like?"_

"He's… I don't know, a little over six foot, maybe."

"6'2"," I corrected.

She gasped and looked over. She gaped at me, but I just smiled, and gestured for her to continue her conversation.

"He's, um… he's six-two, come to think of it." She stared at me and grinned. "He's got this riotous bronze hair that never does what it's supposed to do, but somehow manages to be quite sexy anyway. His eyes change colors, but I think I like them best when they're topaz."

"_Topaz? Are you sure they're not contacts, sweetie?"_

"Anything's possible. He, um, he's not big and brawny like his brothers, but he's got a _really_ great physique. He's really strong. He likes to run," she said, grinning.

"And baseball," I added quietly, still smiling from my place in the shadowed corner of her room.

"And he likes baseball, too. Though I've never seen him play. And he plays the piano, Mom, he _composes_. It's gorgeous. I could listen to him play for hours. And, um, seriously, he's the most beautiful boy in the world. Honestly. He could be an underwear model. He comes in from the rain and he looks like he just finished shooting a commercial for hair gel. And he smells _so good._"

"_Sounds like you've got it bad, sweetie. What's his name?"_

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. He's adopted. His dad's a surgeon and his mom's an architect. He's got two brothers and two sisters, all adopted."

"_Edward, huh? Sounds like a dream come true."_

"He really is."

"_So… how far have you guys gone?"_

"_**Mom**_**,"** Bella whined.

"_Bella, this is me. You can tell me anything. I need to know you're being safe with the underwear model."_

She was flushing a beautiful red. I moved to sit next to her on the bed, but then decided to lay next to her instead. Then I decided that what I really needed to do was put my head in her lap. She idly stroked my hair even as she blushed and tried to answer her mother's questions. I had one hand stroking the back of her calf, the other halfway up the back of her shirt.

"We have condoms," she whispered, "and I'm on the pill now."

"_Charlie is okay with you being on the pill?" _Renee sounded vastly surprised.

"Well, actually, he doesn't know that part. I mean, he suspects that… Edward… and I…"

"_Are having wild and crazy monkey sex, yes."_

"Yes. Well. It was Edward's dad that got the prescription for me."

"_Hmm. That was handy. So, how serious are you about this boy?"_

"Um, pretty serious." She had a pained look on her face then. "I love him, Mom," she whispered. "I miss him when he's not around."

I reached up then, taking my hand from her leg to cup the side of her face that didn't have the phone pressed against it.

"_When are you going to see him again, baby?"_

"Soon," she said, looking somewhat dazedly into my eyes. "I mean, he's coming over soon, and um, we're going out to, um, go… stargazing. Because it's clear out tonight. It was actually sunny today."

"_Uh huh. Stargazing. Sure. Does Charlie know he's coming over?"_

"I don't think I mentioned it, and you know, he's works so hard, long hours, he's actually already gone to bed. I'd hate to bother him, is all."

"_Um hmm. Is Edward already there?"_

"Yes," she said wincing.

"_Hand him the phone, Bella."_

"Mom, please don't do this."

"_Hand him the phone, Bella."_

She handed me the phone. I sat up and quickly rearranged myself so that I could cradle Bella in my arms, in between my legs. Our heads were close enough together so that if I held the phone just so, she would still be able to hear her mother's responses.

"Good evening, Mrs. Dwyer."

"Hello, Edward. It's very nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine. I'm glad you and Bella got a chance to catch up with one another tonight. I know she misses you very much."

"It _is_ good to talk to her. She had quite a lot to say about _you."_

"I'm flattered."

"You should be. It was all very glowing."

"Bella brings out the best in me," I replied truthfully.

"So, Edward…" she trailed off, slightly.

"Yes?"

"What are your intentions with Bella?"

"_**Mom!**_" Bella cried in misery, but slightly away from the phone.

"They are honorable, I assure you. I have fallen in love with your daughter, Mrs. Dwyer. I only want the best for her; for her to be safe, loved, cared for, and inspired to do whatever it is she is passionate about in this world."

"As soon as I figure out what that is," Bella muttered.

"How old are you, Edward?"

"Seventeen. I'm a junior, like Bella."

"You don't sound like a junior."

"I've heard that before."

"Well, alright. Thank you for speaking with me, Edward. Will you hand the phone back to Bella?"

"It was my pleasure, Mrs. Dwyer. Have a good night."

"Mom," Bella said once she had the phone again. "You need to never do that again."

"_Keep dating Edward and I won't need to."_

"I have no intention of ever dating anyone else, Mom."

"_Okay, okay. Well, go on then. I suppose you want to get on with the 'stargazing'. Have fun with that. Do you even know what Orion looks like?"_

"No, but I'm sure Edward does."

"I do," I confirmed.

"He does."

"_Of course he does, he's perfect. Go on. Have your fun. Email me tomorrow, okay?"_

"Goodnight, Mom."

"_Goodnight, baby."_

She hung up the phone and sagged against me. _Did that conversation really just occur?_

"Yep," I confirmed quietly. "So, you want to go stargazing?" I asked, smiling.

_No, not really._

"Bella," I started. "Will you let me get you a cell phone?"

_I don't need a cell phone._

"You could call your mom whenever you wanted, talk for as long as you want. You could call me."

_You're practically always within earshot, Edward._

"Not always."

_It would be nice to call Mom more often. But I can't really afford one, I don't think._

"Bella, let _me_ get you a cell phone. I'll take care of it. All you have to do is remember to charge the thing."

_I don't know…_

"Please, Bella?" I shifted around so I could see her, so I could plead my case face to face. "Please, love? _Please_ let me get you a cell phone?"

Her eyes were glazed and her mind was blank, which meant that I had won.

_Fine. But you program it._

I smiled and kissed her. It was much, much later after a proper hello that left us naked and under her covers with the lights off that I asked about her day on the reservation.

_Well, I didn't fall in, if that's what you're wondering about. Not the fire, not the ocean, not the tide pools, which were beautiful, by the way._

She shifted slightly so that she was half sprawled on me, using my chest as a pillow, one of her favorite positions to start off the night.

_Bonfire was cool – drift wood made the flames blue. That was neat. And I had a very interesting conversation with the son of one of Charlie's friends on the reservation. Did you want the cliff notes version, or the play by play?_

"Give me the play by play," I said softly.

Bella closed her eyes and concentrated on the afternoon. I saw Bella's memory of the conversation with the Quileute boy, saw as she tried to open the conversation with him, now that she'd gotten him off privately, walking down the beach.

"_Who was that other boy Lauren was talking to? The one that mentioned the Cullens?"_

"_Oh, that's Sam," the boy said._

"_What was he saying about them? He seemed know Dr. Cullen, or something."_

"_No, he doesn't. Well, not really," the boy said._

"_What did he mean, __**the Cullens don't come here**__? It's kind of a weird thing to say."_

"_It's just superstitious stuff. How do you know the Cullens? It sounded kind of like she was taunting you with them not being here," the boy said._

"_Oh. I'm friends with the whole family. I'm dating Edward, the youngest."_

_The boy's jaw dropped. "Seriously?"_

_Bella smiled winningly at him. "Seriously."_

_He reached out and touched her hand. She raised an eyebrow. He laughed then. "It's hard to know what to believe, sometimes, you know? Sometimes the scary stories of our tribe line up a little too closely to reality, but then sometimes, they don't."_

_Bella smiled. "What do you mean?"_

"_Well, you know, there's a flood story, about how we tied canoes to the tops of the tallest trees to survive, like Noah and the ark. And that's a nice story, you know, but who really believes it, right? But there are other ones. Like, we don't hunt wolves, because we – the Quileutes – are supposed to be descended from them.__ Or, descended not from like, actual wolves, but you know, wolves that can change into men."_

"_What, you mean like werewolves?"_

_The boy smirked over at her and shrugged. "Scary stories, like I said."_

"_So then, what's the deal with the Cullens?_

"_Well, there are other stories that go along with… with the ones about the wolves. The werewolves. Stories about… I'm really not supposed to say. I'm sorry."_

_She smiled again and tugged on his sleeve. "Oh, come on. You already told me about the fact you're descended from werewolves. How bad can it be?"_

"_It's a secret."_

"_I wont say a single word. Ever. I promise," said Bella._ She was still keeping her promise, I thought.

"_Well you are dating one of them," the boy said._

_Bella just waited._

"_Well, okay. The wolves in our tribe, we protect people. And we have one natural enemy – the cold ones, who hunt people. But there was a pack that came onto our territory that was supposed to be different, and my great-grandfather, he made a treaty with them, because he believed they were different. They stay off our land, and we don't tell the pale-faces about them."_

"_What was different about them?" asked Bella._

"_They were supposed to be able to survive off of animals alone. But you never know when they might get just a little too hungry to resist."_

"_But your great-grandfather, he believed them, right? Or else he wouldn't have made the treaty, right?"_

"_I guess."_

"_So where do the Cullens figure in? Are they supposed to be cold ones, or something, like this pack?"_

"_Bella, they **are** the pack. Dr. Carlisle Cullen, and four others, two males, two females. Another male and female have joined them since then."_

"_Wait, your legend actually mentions him by name? __**Carlisle Cullen**__?"_

"_**Dr**__. Carlisle Cullen," the boy clarified._

"_No way."_

"_Way."_

"_So, okay, werewolf boy," she said, grinning. "What are cold ones supposed to be then?"_

"_You're dating one, you tell me," he said, clearly joking back with her._

"_No, you don't get off that easy."_

"_Fine, I'll tell you. But since I clearly just broke an ancient treaty, you have to give me something in return."_

"_What?"_

"_You have to tell me if I'm right."_

"_Okay. Spit it out, then."_

"_Vampires. They're supposed to be vampires. So. Are they?"_

_Bella just smiled, and shrugged._

"_No way! I told you, now you have to tell me!"_

"_Okay, okay! You're descended from werewolves, and I'm dating a vampire. We __**should**__ be friends."_

"_So its true… How can you date him? I mean, aren't you afraid that he's going to, like, get __**hungry**__ or something?"_

"_He's a __**vegetarian**__."_

_The boy snorted with laughter._

"_Relatively speaking," Bella clarified. "And he would never hurt me. And I hang out with his family all the time. They're very nice people. His sister is fixing my truck."_

"_What happened to the truck?"_

"_A huge van smashed into the side of it. But, hey, you'd like Rosalie. __She's really into cars. I bet she could find that… what was it you were looking for?"_

"_Master cylinder for a 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit."_

"_Right. I'll ask her. I'm sure she could dig one up. So, do you get out to town a lot?"_

"_Not until I can fix up my car. And, you know, get my license."_

"_Well, you should come hang out with us."_

"_I don't know… My dad would freak out. I mean, he and Charlie got into a big fight when the Cullens moved back into town, and dad and the council decided to boycott the hospital."_

"_Ugh. So much for amicable relations between the two nations. But you know, you and me, we could revolutionize werewolf-vampire relations in Forks. You know, next generation and all that."_

_The boy laughed. "But I'm not a werewolf, and you're not a vampire."_

_Bella laughed in return. "Still, peace starts at home."_

"_Yea, maybe. Faster I get the master cylinder, faster I get wheels."_

"_I'll talk to Rosalie."_

_The boy sighed. "Accepting presents from vampires."_

"_They're good kissers, too," Bella confided._

"_Ugh! I didn't need to know!" __But then the boy thought again. "Does he have fangs, like in the movies?"_

"_No!" Bella answered, appalled. "But his teeth are very sharp…"_

"_Yea, they would be," the boy muttered._

"_Oh, whatever. At least he isn't hairy once a month."_

"_Hey, wolves are very graceful creatures. And they're furry, not hairy."_

"_Oh, my mistake."_

_The boy laughed. "You're okay, Bella."_

"_Thanks, Jacob. You, too."_

The memory ended and I was stunned. I really had no idea where to begin. When I encouraged Bella to reindoctrinate the younger generation, I didn't actually think she would take up the gauntlet and try.

***  
End Chapter 8  
***

::grin::

To those who have asked, why yes, I _am _rewriting the entire saga. But as you see, things are changing, all because Edward can hear Bella and isn't constantly in fight-or-flight mode. And now, a little something extra for you... in the next 'chapter'.


	17. Playlist

DESS Playlist

**Note:** After writing 225 pages listening to the Twilight Soundtrack, I really needed new tunes, so I compiled the following playlist. I thought you might be interested, so here is a copy. I separated it up into sections only so you could see roughly why I chose what I did, but know that depending on the moment in the scene, of course any song could apply to nearly any situation…

And I know; section titles like 'werewolf boot camp' and 'the amazon' will make next to no sense, but take heart: I've made a list of the remaining plot points I need to write before I finish the last epilogue, and it will eventually _all_ make sense. In case you're curious, there are 34 remaining plot points from Edward's point of view, and 20 from the alternate point of view that I'll adopt and switch with the summer after Edward's Junior Year. Of course, I can't actually _tell you_ who that other point of view will be, but I will say this: it isn't gonna be Jacob, and it isn't gonna be Bella. But I promise it will be good. So, here's the playlist. Do go and support the artists - they're all wonderful and worthwhile songs, each one.

_Edward Find His Mate:_

Ray of Light – Madonna  
Me Gustas Tu – Manu Chau  
Ridiculous Thoughts – The Cranberries  
Monster Side – Addict  
I'm Dying – VAST  
All I Want Is You – U2  
Secret Smile – Semisonic  
Nocturne for Piano in B, Op. 32 – Chopin  
Dreaming My Dreams – The Cranberries  
Duerme Conmigo – Jarabe de Palo  
DND – Semisonic  
Suerte – Shakira  
"Air" from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D – J.S. Bach  
Completely Pleased – Semisonic  
Barely Legal – The Strokes  
Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This – Annie Lennox  
Appels + Oranjes – Smashing Pumpkins  
Mysterious Ways – U2  
Te Adviso, Te Anuncio – Shakira

_Times of Transition:  
You Owe Me Nothing In Return – Alanis Morissette  
Ode to My Family – The Cranberries  
Strange Glue – Catatonia  
Leech – Eve 6  
Preaching the End of the World – Chris Cornell  
Will You Remember? – The Cranberries  
Depende – Jarabe de Palo  
Made to Last – Semisonic  
It's Gonna Kill Me – Filter  
Grita – Jarabe de Palo  
Superhero Girl – Eve 6_

_Werewolf Boot Camp:  
I'm Just A Man – INXS  
Somebody Told Me – The Killers  
How Soon Is Now? – The Smiths  
Human – The Killers_

_The Amazon:  
Brasileirinho – Yo Yo Ma  
I Will Follow – U2  
All I Want Is You – U2 _

_The Pregnancy:  
Allegro: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major – JS Bach  
Badinerie: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor – JS Bach  
Little Suite: Anna Magdalena Notebook – JS Bach_

_The Birth, The Death, The Burning, The Resurrection, & Edward's Unpleasant Surprise:  
[ Untitled ] – VAST  
Song to the Siren - ?  
Go – Andy Hunter  
Dirty Day [Junk Day Mix] – U2  
Paint it Black – U2  
Ciega Sordomuda – Shakira  
Love Rescue Me – U2  
Ultra Violet (light my way) – U2  
She Is Rising – INXS_

_The Clan, The Pack, The Treaty:  
En Lo Puro No Hay Futuro – Jarabe de Palo  
Imagine – John Lennon  
Love Revolution – Lenny Kravitz  
Beautiful Day – U2_


	18. Angelic Adonis, Disheveled, part 1

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta**: Colleen P., who left me to my own devices for a week while she dealt with exams, only to be shocked at what Bella, Edward, and I got up to while she was away… Meanwhile, _I_ look at is as a really lovely post-exam present…  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.  
**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

**Author's Note**: This is dedicated with gratitude to all who have reviewed this story, thank you. If your review is signed (not anonymous) I can respond to you, but otherwise I am left to think my thoughts of gratitude and blessing, and occasionally prayer and reiki, to myself. You know who you are.

***  
Chapter 9: Angelic Adonis, Disheveled, part one  
***

She was asleep before I could come up with anything else. I held her, as I had the last three weeks worth of nights. I was still in a place of utter befuddlement when she started dreaming. I shouldn't have been surprised when her dreams started to deal with the issues of the day. Still, it was hard not to laugh when Jacob's toddler came over for a playdate with our toddler, who for some strange reason was named Renesme. Over my scattered ashes would any child of mine be stuck such a name, possibly for all of eternity. I liked Elisabeth, or perhaps Sebastian much better. Normal names for a normal child. Sort of.

Her dreams continued on. Interesting sex scenes, strange phone calls with her mother, her father out fishing, but coming back with a werewolf cub instead, whom Bella proceeded to identify as Jacob's errant toddler.

Her father would probably go out fishing tomorrow, as he had today, which meant that we had the entire sunny day to ourselves. I wanted to take Bella to the meadow, but wondered if it would be too soon to give her the engagement ring. Alice had gone to pick it up yesterday, and I was anxious to see it on Bella's finger, however brief a stay it might have there. Alice had also chosen a beautiful and quite long chain for the ring to go on, around her neck.

I could imagine it, the string of tiny platinum links draping between her breasts, coming together in a graceful arc, pulled by the weight of the ring that rested just below her breasts. I could imagine it shifting and swaying as we made love, as Bella was astride me, as she leaned over me to kiss me.

I groaned softly.

I really shouldn't imagine things like this at two in the morning. It was bad enough to sit like a voyeur in Bella's mind as she leaned against my piano as I pounded into her from behind – not a position that was likely to work unless she was actually standing on something, but error in logistics aside, if it was the thought that counted, this one counted for quite a lot. It was bad enough to sit like a voyeur in Bella's mind as she pulled out my cock and sucked me off in the cab of her truck. It was bad enough that I could smell her arousal thick in the air, even burrowed under the covers as we were. It was bad enough that I could imagine how slick and tight she was right at this exact moment. At this point in the night she was facing away from me, but snuggled back against me. My arm was tucked securely around her waist and my raging hard on was nestled snug against her soft, round bottom.

Her dream shifted again, and I had her up against a bank of lockers. I was in a tuxedo – well, mostly in a tuxedo – and she was in a dark blue dress with a deliciously plunging neckline. The hem of the dress was rucked up around her hips and her legs were wrapped around my waist. I could hear the squish and suck of fast, hard, fully lubricated sex, and we were both panting in each other's ear. Bella was talking to me in her head.

_Yes, baby, yes. Harder, Edward. I need you to fuck me harder._

Her hands were in my hair, messing it up further, but both of mine were holding her up by way of grabbing her ass, which she apparently quite liked.

But then the dream slipped away, as dreams often do.

She woke with a gasp and a start. She shifted just slightly, feeling me hard against her, all along her back, one arm around her waist.

"Edward," she said softly, her breathing still irregular, gasping.

I rubbed my thumb against her belly in response.

"I dreamed," she said, as if I didn't know.

"I'm aware of that fact," I said softly, my voice no more than a rumble in her ear.

She moaned a little and shifted her hips back against mine, taking one more gasping breath. "It was a good dream," she whispered.

"But not good enough, apparently," I remarked quietly, my hand moving up to brush against one of her hardened nipples once, twice, and then resuming my position in the relatively neutral territory of her abdomen.

"Yes, I was hoping… um, you might be able to help with that," she said shifting back against me again.

"Oh, I see," I said slipping one finger into the slick heat I had so coveted before. I removed it with a whimper from her, but she only started panting again as I sucked my finger clean. "You're just using me for sex, then," I said, my arm back around her waist.

"Yes. No. Occasionally." _Are you going to put me out of my misery, or what?_

I shifted down the bed slightly so I had some room to maneuver. I slipped her upper leg up just a little and guided my cock into her slippery heat with my hand, but not before rubbing the head around her lips, eliciting all sorts of lovely, barely audible sounds from her throat.

Bella arched her back and rotated her hips back, and suddenly this position was much easier. I sunk into her as deeply as I could and slid my free hand underneath her waist so that I could have my fingers in her curls, teasing her clitoris even as my other hand got to play with her beautiful breasts.

_Oh, oh it's so good, Edward._

"Well," I whispered in her ear, "It's not you bent over my piano, it's not you sucking me off in your truck, and it's not me banging you against your locker in your prom dress-"

I cut off when she giggled at hearing me use the phrase 'banging you against your locker', but her laughter had a very disturbing consequence. It shoved me out of her, quite uncomfortably.

"Bella," I groaned.

_Sorry! Right. No laughing during sex. Got it._

I guided myself back into her and sank in deeply again before beginning to thrust in and out slowly several times, then once sharply. It was a rhythm I'd just made up, but I decided to go with it and see where it got us.

"So, you find the idea of me banging you against your locker amusing. Alright. It is amusing. How would you prefer I refer to it? I'm not quite sure 'making love' covers it, especially under those circumstances." I was whispering in her ear, my hands back to their previous activities. Every time I thrust in sharply, Bella clenched on me, squeezing down tightly and making me wish she had the stamina that would allow us to actually do this for a week straight. Heaven knew I wanted her that much.

I licked her ear and waited for her answer.

_Mmm, fucking. I think fucking might cover it._

"Fucking?" I asked, and witnessed the shiver up her spine with a lascivious grin. "You like the idea of me _fucking_ you against a locker?" I asked ever so quietly. I nuzzled against her ear as I made lazy circles around her clitoris and gently pinched her nipple.

_Oh, yes, yes, yes. Fuck. Edward said fuck. Oh, god, say it again._

"And what about the piano?" I asked, thrusting steadily and faster into her, now. "Do you want me to fuck you over my piano?"

_Oh, yes, please!_

"Do you want me to bend you over and fuck you that way, or maybe I should sit you on the keys and let you wrap your luscious legs around me while we fuck so I can watch you come? Hmm, I like that idea, myself."

_Yes, Edward! Yes, that, and more!_

That, and more? I was intrigued. "Where else should we fuck, Bella?" I whispered into her ear, feeling her clench around me more randomly, now. She wasn't close, but she was getting there. "Tell me, Bella. Tell me where you want to fuck _me."_

She groaned.

_In the forest. Against a tree. In my car. In your car. The sofa downstairs. In the kitchen. Your dining table. The biology lab bench. My room at home. The hood of that grey car. On the stairs. Your sofa. Your living room floor. Against your wall of music. Against the windows in your bedroom. On the floor. In the middle of your bedroom, standing with you just holding me up. In the bathroom over the sink, both of us looking in the mirror. In the shower. Lots, in the shower. I want to take showers just so you can fuck me up against the wall in them._

Each location came with a picture, an instant flash of fantasy that left me gasping. And dammit, but I couldn't get deep enough in this position. I groaned.

"Let's try something new, love." I pulled out of her. She whimpered.

"Come on," I whispered. "Up on your knees," I said, pulling her back and helping her with stability and positioning. She was uncoordinated at the best of times, but at two in the morning she wasn't at her best. I stood at the edge of the bed and helped her to kneel with her legs just a little wider, her body just a little closer to me. I held her hips gently and sunk into her, my mouth agape at how deep I was within her.

She groaned mentally and spasmed around me. _Oh, wow! We'll definitely be doing __**this **__more often!_ She shoved herself backwards on me. _Come on, move!_

My mouth was still wide open and as she clenched around me. My balls were nestled right up against her skin, and I could feel them tightening, marking my pending orgasm. I shook slightly. I didn't usually come this quickly unless blood was involved, but the depth was shocking. I flexed my hips against her experimentally, and it felt so good my eyes rolled back into my head.

I pulled almost all the way out then shoved myself back in relatively hard, pulling her hips back to meet me.

_Holy Fuck! Do it again! Do it again!_

I pulled out of her again, slowly, slowly, teasing myself, teasing Bella. But then I felt my balls pulling up tight and I was moments away from coming. I shoved myself back in again, just as hard as before and bit my lip as I started to come. I tried to keep a rhythm as I pumped in and out of her, but any control I had was expended on not holding her too tightly. Everything else was sacrificed to that. In the end I just breathed my ragged breaths and jerked my uneven jerks within her as I came deep within her core. I could feel it from the base of my skull to the base of my spine as my back arched in my bliss. No words could describe the experience, the sensation of coming deep within Bella, but it was my absolute favorite thing in the world, and I was grateful that I, unlike human men, could experience it as often as I liked during intercourse.

I spent the nine seconds it took me to recover after my final jerky spasm massaging Bella's lower back as I softened within her.

_That was so sexy, and I couldn't even see anything. I don't suppose you'd be willing to put a mirror near your bed, would you?_

I hardened at the thought of it. I was sure that Alice would have it ordered for me by the time I got home.

Bella looked over her shoulder at me, flicking her hair out of the way. It fanned out across her shoulders and I loved how it looked. I got harder at the sight. She raised an eyebrow at me. I got harder still. She licked her lips, possibly an unconscious gesture, but no less luscious for being so. I _loved _her tongue. I got harder, achingly hard now, imagining her tongue on me, sliding over my own tongue, on my neck, on my nipples, sucking on my fingers, on my cock.

I pulsed within her, still buried so deep but now back to that deliciously impossible hardness.

"You know, Bella," I said, trying to affect a quiet conversational tone, but failing miserably. Instead I sounded predatory, but she wasn't complaining at all. "I _really _like fucking you," I said, and true though the statement was, I really just wanted to see what her reaction would be like.

I watched her eyes widen and heard her heart start to race again. Her breathing was uneven, once more. She moistened her lips with her tongue again, and acting on the impulse to pull out of her and thrust back in sharply happened before I was aware of it, really. When I did, her head fell, and I could no longer see her expression. Mirror, definitely.

_Oh, yes, yes, yes! Please, Edward, keep talking. Tell me more. __Tell me what it feels like. Tell me how good it is._

I groaned quietly. She picked a hell of a time for us to talk, but I suppose we'd been doing so all along. Charlie was still asleep. I would just have to remember to continue _whispering_ all the lovely, juicy, sexy things she wanted to hear and I wanted to tell her.

"You feel so good, Bella," I said softly. "You're so tight and wet, and so blazingly hot. We fit so perfectly. This is my favorite place to be, wrapped in your mind and attached at the hip, my _cock_," I said, enunciating the word softly, "buried so deep it feels like you'll swallow me whole. I _want_ you to swallow me whole, baby," I said.

I pumped in and out of her, pulling her hips back to me gently, but with increasing force each time I thrust up into her. "I love making love with you, Bella. Softly, gently, sweetly. You're so sweet. I love you so much. I'll love you forever, until the end of eternity, and beyond.

"I love watching you suck my cock. It's so sexy. You're so sexy when you do it, the little sounds you make that let me know you love it, too. I love feeling your tongue swirl around and around it, your lips surround it, your teeth scraping against the sides, your mouth creating that beautiful suction until I explode on your tongue. I love that you love my taste," I whispered, continuously thrusting in and out, in and out, in and out. "You're a positive glutton when it comes to sucking me off and swallowing me down. I know you want to do it more often, and I want to let you. I will let you. I promise to come quickly and let you suck me off where ever and whenever you like. No arguments. How could I argue, Bella, when your lips are wrapped around my cock and your hand is playing with my balls?

"I love eating your pussy," I said softly, experimenting with the new word. I watched in blissful amazement as she whined and ground herself back on me with extra force. "That's something I want to do more often. Much more often. Once a day never quite seems like enough, somehow. You start menstruating next week, Bella. Say you'll let me eat you out and lick you clean every morning, every afternoon, every night. Please, Bella," I begged without shame, thrusting into her sharply. "Please, say you'll let me, Bella. Say it."

"Yes," she whispered. "Yes." _Don't stop, Edward. Don't stop._

"You know what else I love, Bella?"

_No, what? Tell me, tell me, tell me…_

"I love that you want me as much as I want you. I _love_ that you want me to fuck you in the shower. I'm _going_ to fuck you in the shower, Bella. I'm going to fuck you so hard you'll forget about everything else. I'm going to fuck you in the shower and you're going to come, squeezing my cock impossibly hard as you scream my name. You're not going to be able to get in the shower but to have me fucking you there. Like you imagined, with your legs wrapped around me, but also like this, bent over with your hands against the tile as I drive my cock into you from behind, over and over and over until you come with a whine, or a cry, or a _yesyesyes…_ And then I'll keep fucking you, until _I_ come, jerking and spasming and spurting and growling."

_Oh, yes, yes, growl, Edward. Growl for me, baby._

"You like it when I growl, don't you, Bella?" I asked, snarling with my next thrust, with my next three thrusts.

_It's so hot. It always makes me want to fuck harder, come faster, go longer. It's not sexy, it's… __**sex**__._

I grinned and thrust in harder, pulling her hips back toward me even harder as well.

"I love that you think my growl is sex itself. It makes me want to growl at you at the most inappropriate times, like in the middle of biology, or while we're playing games with my family after dinner. It makes me want to growl whenever my cock is in your mouth, knowing that all the while you're getting wetter and wetter, all the better for me to lick up later.

"I love that you want a mirror in our bedroom so you can watch the expression on my face as I shove my cock into you while you're on your hands and knees."

_And the rest of you. The way your muscles strain and flex, the way your body hunches over when you come inside of me, the way it looks, you fucking me, looming over me, magnificent, proud, and strong, fucking me, fucking me, fucking me – oh, Edward, yes, yes, just a little more. Come with me, baby? Please?_

"You know what makes me come instantly," I said quietly.

_Bite me, baby. Bite me anywhere you like. Just don't let me smell the blood. Come on, baby, just a little more. A little harder – oooh!_

I jerked her harder onto my cock. Just a few more times then I would abandon her perfect hips and press my chest against her back. I would lick her neck and seal my lips over the spot that drove her crazy. I would suck and lick and then once she was clenching around my cock so deliciously I would let my teeth just barely graze the skin and I would pull in just a few of the sacred drops before sealing the cut. Just a few drops, maybe once or twice taken would ensure a quick, hard, and earth shattering orgasm.

But first things were first.

"I love fucking you, Bella," I whispered on a snarl, thrusting hard into her.

"I love your _mind,"_ thrust.

"I love your _body,"_ thrust.

"I love your _blood,"_ thrust. Lick. Suck. Bite. Bliss.

After that, I let her sleep her exhaustion away. I left at seven, well after Charlie had left to get the jump on the fish two and a half hours before. Alice had laid out the day's outfit on my bed, along with a large, soft, wool blanket in a red plaid. There was a backpack that contained a bottle of water, two apples, a box of bandaids and a small tube of Neosporin.

I was back again before Bella woke, so I happily shucked my clothes back off again and slipped into bed with her. It wasn't until just after nine that she started to stir. I woke her up in the usual fashion.

"Charlie's already gone," I growled up at her, raising my head in the midst and grinning at her. She was much more vocal after that.

"Are you going to shower with me this morning?" she asked in a lazy murmur, shifting languidly against my body. She had visions of me gently making love with her in the shower dancing in her head.

"Can you handle me taking a shower with you this morning?" I asked in return.

She giggled. "Probably not."

"Then I'll let you clean yourself in peace and try not to fantasize too much about drops of water sliding all over your beautiful skin."

Bella groaned and giggled again. _That would be fun,_ she thought, and attending the thought was a fantasy of me masturbating alone on her bed.

I snorted.

"You can't seriously believe I'd want to have sex _without_ you, do you?"

_Not really without me. You'd still be in my head. I would be watching you. I love watching you. I'd whisper sweet nothings directly into your headspace – or dirty nothings, if you like._

I groaned. Masturbation aside, I'd like to hear what Bella would come up with on the dirty nothings front.

_Like that idea, huh? And naturally, I would clean you up afterwards, I mean, it's only fair. I'd lick your tummy clean, and your chest, and your cock, of course, and whatever else seemed to need some cleaning at that point. And then, and then baby… you could do whatever you wanted to me. Not that I wouldn't let you do anything anyway, but it could be your choice. Whatever you want. Just say the word. Or better yet, just do it._

Masturbation was looking better, I had to admit.

"Go take a shower, you succubus," I ground out.

She laughed, but she went. Twenty seven minutes later Bella returned wrapped in a towel. I pulled her back on the bed and kissed her soundly.

"Have you thought about what we discussed?" I hesitated to even bring it up, but I really wanted her to change her mind on this.

_What in particular? We discuss a lot._

"I really want to marry you, Bella." And I have the ring with me. I really want to give it to you today.

_Can't we just get married when I'm thirty?_

"Of course we can, but I really hope that won't be the first time we get married."

_What?_

"Emmett and Rosalie get married every twenty years, or so. I think Jasper and Alice have only been married the one time. Carlisle and Esme slip off to City Hall whenever it's necessary for our cover, but I think they secretly love it. It's not a huge deal."

Bella's mind was silent as she processed that.

"And, if we get married when you're thirty, you won't look thirty. You won't feel thirty. You'll look and feel just shy of nineteen, and… you'll look like a vampire. I mean, people would still be able to recognize you after they thought about it for a minute, but I really don't recommend it."

Bella's mind was a whirl, processing that, trying to puzzle through my statements.

_Okay, so… I just… What if we had a long, public engagement, and then we got married on the down low? We can tell my parents about it, after the fact, maybe. I just… Charlie and Renee got married right after high school, and it lasted four years. Charlie's never gotten over Renee, and she's still scarred from it, even though she's moved on pretty well. I just don't think they'd be any fonder of the idea of me marrying young than they would be about me becoming a vampire, you know?_

_I guess, I mean, I don't mind marrying you, in theory. And I don't have anything against the idea of getting married __**eventually**__. It's the practice that gets a little tricky. But what will it change, anyway? Will it change how much you love me? Will it change how devoted I am to you?_

"Honestly? I think you'll feel more a part of the family. And if you ever get hurt, before you get changed, I'd like to know that I have some legal rights. But those are small things. It is important to me, Bella, to make my promises and vows to you in public, before God and the State, and to hear yours in return."

_You really are very old fashioned._

"And you are incredibly new-fangled. I manage to love you anyway. So are we agreed, then? You'll marry me sooner than later?"

"Yes, Edward, I'll marry you sooner than later," she said aloud.

I grinned. "Will you marry me the week after your birthday?"

_You are really pushing it._

"Is that a yes?"

_Yes, already._

I grinned wider. "How soon can we get engaged?" I was so excited, I could hardly stand it.

_Not until graduation._

"Bella! That's after we get married," I said, knowing that I was whining, but not being able to do much about it. Who gets engaged after their marriage?

_No one __**else**__ is going to know that. You think my parents are going to be over the moon with happiness if I get engaged before I'm a senior in high school? No. We can get engaged after graduation, and tell people that we're going to wait until we finish college to get married. And if we decide we want to… to try to get me pregnant, then we can do that after graduation, before I change, okay?_

I scowled. She had a point. I didn't like it, but she had one.

I gave her my recommendations for how to dress, based on our day, but she wasn't pleased with the prospect of a surprise.

_I really don't like surprises, Edward. I really don't._

Seriously? Well, damn. That shot most of my plans right to hell. I wondered _how much_ she didn't like surprises. I could surprise her and see what happens, or I suppose I could just ask. We were walking downstairs by the time I got up the nerve to do so.

"When you say you don't like surprises, where are you on the scale of not liking surprises? I mean, are you over on the 'I find surprises mildly annoying, but will put up with them for the sake of the people who love me,' end? Or are you in the middle ground: 'I can deal with the occasional surprise with grace." Or are you on the other end of the spectrum? 'Surprises stress me out completely, I hate not knowing what's going on, and I will never, not ever be happy to be surprised by something.'"

We were in the kitchen now, and she had just gotten down a bowl and was about to open the refrigerator when she paused and turned to look at me.

"I'm glad you asked," she said, but she didn't sound glad. "When I say 'Edward, I don't like surprises,' what I actually mean is 'Edward, I don't like surprises.' Not now, not ever. A surprise means that I have no choice in the matter of my own life. My life is out of control enough as it is without people I love and respect deliberately lying to me and withholding information in the vain hope that I'm going to be happy about having something sprung on me that they knew they'd have to talk me into agreeing to in the first place, should they have even bothered to ask me, which they didn't. The hope that I will accept something gracefully simply because I have been put in an awkward position by it's presentation as a _surprise_ is a vain hope. If you are smart, Edward, you will listen very closely to what I am about to say, as it seems that we quite like each other and expect to spend the rest of our lives together. _Don't. Ever. Surprise. Me_."

Okay.

She raised an eyebrow and waited, one hand on her hip, one hand still on the doorhandle of the refrigerator.

"Got it," I said softly. "No surprises."

"Excellent," she said, her emotions still quite high as she turned around and got the milk from the refrigerator.

When she slammed the cereal box down on the counter, I commented, "You're angry."

"You're perceptive," she remarked sharply. Then she sniffed. She was crying, of course. She was very, very angry.

I got up, deliberately making noise while I did so. The kitchen chair scraped back, I made my footfalls harder on the linoleum. I stood just behind her without crowding her into the counter and put my hands on her waist.

"You haven't liked it when people surprised you in the past, have you?" I asked quietly.

I saw a vision of Renee surprising Bella with Phil after they had been dating for several months. Charlie surprising Bella with all sorts of nature outings she didn't enjoy – fishing being most prominent among them.

"No," she said, still crying.

"I promise never to surprise you with something, Bella. We'll always decide together." I leaned down to whisper into her ear. "Though I reserve the right to use all the powers of persuasion at my disposal to 'get my way' when I really, really want it."

She snorted then. _You would. _Bella sighed and after a moment spoke aloud. "Well, I usually like your powers of persuasion, so I suppose I can live with that."

She finished pouring her cereal, pouring the milk, and then closed everything up again. She turned then, and put her arms around my waist, laying her head against my chest. She sniffed again.

_I hate that I cry when I'm angry. I always feel like I lose all credibility in my anger when I cry._

"You'll never lose credibility with me, Bella," I said.

_I'm sorry I got angry with you. But I'm glad I got my point across._

I just held her. After a moment I released her and went back to the table. "Eat your breakfast and let me tell you about the wonderful idea I've had for today."

She smiled slightly as she put the milk away and came to the table with her breakfast.

"You've never seen me in the sunlight. There's a reason we don't go out in it. It's nothing bad, but… hard to describe. I'd just as soon you see it for yourself, and today is supposed to be another sunny day. There's a place I like to go, a meadow that's a little ways from here. It's not something that I've shared with anyone else, but… I'd really like to share it with you."

_Oh, Edward, I'd love to. _She was smiling as she was chewing.

Well, that wasn't so bad. I had really just been hoping to take here there and surprise her with it, explain the significance of the meadow while she was standing in it, but I suppose it wasn't so important that it be a surprise. I could work with her.

We were quiet on the drive out, though Bella wasn't thrilled with the idea of hiking, once we got out of the car. She didn't seem to appreciate my sentiment when I pointed out that hiking was just walking with sticks and leaves in the way. It took several hours. We went very slowly. It didn't phase me in the least – I wanted to spend the whole day with her, whether we were walking in the forest or sitting in the meadow, or reading on her couch. It was enough to be with her.

She tripped many, many times, but I was always there to catch her. It was my pleasure to lift her over several fallen trees, and when we finally got to the meadow, she continued on walking out into the sunshine, while I stayed in the shadow of the treeline.

"Oh, Edward, it's beautiful!" She turned to me, but I wasn't there. She looked back, curiosity written all over her face. _What are you doing… Oh. Right. The sun. Well, come on, then. What do you look like in the sun?_

I put the knapsack with its rolled up blanket jutting out the top down on the grass by my feet. I pulled the sweater I was wearing up over my head and dropped it on top of the knapsack. I started to unbutton the pale green oxford I was wearing, first the cuffs, then from the neck down.

_Oh, I'm beginning to like this idea. Hmm. I see why people like striptease._

I looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. She just smiled in return.

I dropped the shirt on top of the sweater.

_Dear god, he's magnificent. Do you know that you make my mouth water, baby? I've never actually seen a six-pack on a real guy before you – it was only on TV. And your chest, and your arms… it's like you're a sculpture of Adonis, sprung to life._

Well, let's see if she still thought I was an Adonis, in the sunlight.

I heard her gasp when I stepped free of the shadow.

_It's like diamonds! A deep, white, sparkle. It's like a new kind of marble._

She came to me, then, and I let her come. I stood perfectly still under her onslaught, my eyes lowered.

_Pale skin, but now not just luminescent… sparkly._

She reached out to touch me, just a fingertip at first, but then with her whole hand.

_Still hard. My sparkly marble Adonis. So still. Just letting me look. I wonder how still my Adonis can be?_

She had both hands running over my shoulders now. She scraped her fingernails along the lines of the muscles in my arms as I held them rigid and still by my side. I decided to stop breathing as well. If she wanted a statue of Adonis, I would do my best to comply.

She bent a little and I could feel her tongue lap against one nipple, then the other. It felt so good. My erection was making itself known to me, but I don't think Bella had noticed yet. At the rate she was going, however, she'd be seeking it out soon enough.

She straightened up and went on her toes, steadying herself with hands on my shoulders. She licked the corner of my jaw.

_So beautiful. So tasty. And I cast a shadow on you… the line between darkness and light,_ she thought, tracing such lines on my shoulders. _On the one side, a pale, passive subtle beauty, and on the other side, a bright, actively stunning beauty. The former marks you as different in a way that can almost but not quite be overlooked, but certainly rationalized away. The latter leaves no question. You are different. Are you sure you're not an angel, Edward? I'm sure we could recover your wings, my beautiful Adonis. People would believe it. One step in the sunlight, and people would say, 'there goes the angel.'_

She licked my neck, then, but I kept my stillness intact. Still, I could not control my erection, which was now painfully hard, and still sadly unnoticed.

_So quiet. No movement at all. I wish I could read your mind. Are you crying out inside?_

She sucked at my neck, and then I was.

_You're not even breathing, are you, baby? I wonder if you can maintain that marble façade even while I suck your cock. I am curious to see if you're sparkly __**everywhere**__, __though I don't__ see why you wouldn't be…_

Oh, bliss. I felt her fingers follow the dark line of hair from my navel to my waistband. I felt the tug and pull of her undoing the button at the top of my jeans, and then the zipper.

She shifted so she wasn't blocking the sun as she pushed my jeans off my hips. She seemed delighted that I had gone commando. I smirked inside, remembering her dream of the angel.

Bella palmed my cock as she continued murmuring sweet nothings into my mind.

_My Angelic Adonis. So beautiful. You smell so good, you go straight to my head._

She sunk to her knees with a surprising amount of grace. Then again, perhaps it was all the practice she'd had in the last few weeks.

_You taste good, too__,_ she remarked as she lapped at the length of me before taking me into her mouth. She squeezed my balls and continued her commentary. _I suppose since you're so busy being a statue there will be no growling, no biting and no snarling of 'God, yes, Bella! Just like that! Suck me harder, baby!' Well, that's okay, Adonis. I know you love this._

I did love it. God, how I loved it. The heat, the suction, the feeling of her lips and tongue roving up and down my cock, her soft hand squeezing my scrotum. Knowing that she might use her teeth to scrape along the length of me, knowing that she loved the taste of me, it was all a heady knowledge.

_This is weird, this utter stillness and silence. Kind of kinky. You know what I love, Edward, and I only now realize it? I __**love**__ it when you talk to me during sex. I love the sounds you make. I love it when you tell me what you want and how you want it, __**especially**__ how you want it. I loved it last night when you talked me all the way through sex. That was so hot. When I came, I really think that half of it was from your voice. I wonder if I could just come from your voice. We'll have to try that some time. But not right now._

_Now you're my Angelic Adonis, Disheveled. I could see that in some avant garde museum, couldn't you? Angelic Adonis, Disheveled, naked from the waist up, jeans open and sagging below his hips, cock hard and out, with one little drop of precum glistening at the tip, just begging to be licked off. No one would wonder where his wings were – it would be clear just how he'd lost them in the first place. And everyone would marvel at his utter perfection, wishing they could have a lover like him. They would fantasize about licking off that little drop at the tip, just one lick, just one touch. They would daydream about that statue coming to life and pushing them up against the wall of the museum after hours, pushing that large, beautiful marble cock inside of them while Angelic Adonis, Disheveled murmurs into their ear how beautiful they are, how much he'd like to devote his life to them, how all their imperfections seem to him to be charming and quirky, things to be adored._

_None of them could guess what a wonderful person Angelic Adonis, Disheveled really was, inside the beautiful body, beyond the amazing and plentiful sex. They might never guess that he likes to have his way, and is willing to play dirty to get it. They would never know how thoughtful he was, how sweet, how caring. They would never know how he worries about his mortal girlfriend, that she'll accidentally fall into the ocean and drown if he's not around. They would never imagine that he would want to spend hours reading Pride and Prejudice to her, or playing team Monopoly __with her on his team, against the rest of his family. They couldn't possibly imagine his beautiful compositions that he practices while she does her homework, that he hums in her ear as she falls asleep every night, holding her while she dreams. They couldn't possibly imagine how he might be willing to completely restructure his life around hers. __They couldn't imagine what Angelic Adonis, Disheveled was really like, and it's just as well._

_Because I'm not sharing._

Then my beloved used her teeth, biting down on the head of my shaft before sucking me back in as far as she could, raking her teeth down as she went. She sucked me hard then, squeezed me hard, dug her nails into my scrotum, and I came in her mouth, on her tongue.

_But if they knew what you tasted like, baby, I'd have to beat them off with a stick. I think that most guys must not taste like this, or no one would be able to say anything remotely negative about blowjobs__. Cocksucker would not be an insult. It might be a title. Chief Cocksucker. There might be those little awards, like 'best in show'. #1 Cocksucker! There would be bumper stickers. My Wife Gives Great Head! You know, from the same people who want you to know about their honor students. For that matter, I suppose I'd need one for the truck. My Boyfriends Is A Pussy Licking Pro! Ah, if only. I suppose I'll have to refrain from the bumper stickers, though. I'm not sure Forks could handle it._

In utter silence and stillness I pulsed in her mouth, my ejaculate exploding from me to the accompaniment of Bella's insane but lovable marketing ideas. She was imagining t-shirts now, too. One for me, in black with pink type. 'Pussy Licking Pro. Ask me how.' And one for herself. It had trees on it in a strange sixties-retro theme. 'Of course I give good head,' it read. 'If your husband tasted like mine, you'd give good head, too.'

Two hours later found Bella in my green shirt – how she always managed to end up in my shirts I'm not sure, but I whole heartedly approved – half wrapped around me, half wrapped up in the blanket we'd both been laying on at one point, eating an apple. Her head rested on my bicep.

"Bella, I've bought you something," I said.

She looked up at me. Her mind was blank. Apparently she couldn't fathom what it would be. "Why? I don't need anything."

Actually, I could name a number of things that she needed. A cell phone, which she had already agreed to, a new car, which I don't think she would ever agree to, a better computer for her own use, and of course… an engagement ring.

"Maybe just this one thing." I rolled slightly and reached over to grab the knapsack. I rooted around in the small front pocket until I came out with the light blue velvet box. I rolled back again, but before I could do anything, she spoke.

"Edward that had better not be an engagement ring."

I raised my eyebrow.

"We are engaged, Bella. I asked you to marry me, you said yes. We've set a date. It's just over six and a half months away. Most couples, six months out from their wedding, have a ring."

"We are not most couples, Edward. Besides. We also agreed that we wouldn't get engaged until after our wedding. I thought we were both pretty clear on that."

"I thought we'd agreed that we wouldn't be _publicly_ engaged until after our _private_ wedding."

"Same thing," she said.

"Hardly," I pointed out. "In my scenario you get to wear your ring now."

"We already talked about that!" she said, yelling. "What part of 'secret engagement and secret marriage' is confusing for you?"

"I didn't say you had to wear it on your finger," I said, my voice terse. She really was quite trying sometimes.

"Where the hell else am I suppose to wear a ring? In my _nose?"_

"Bella, you are utterly ridiculous," I said, stating the obvious.

"_I'm_ ridiculous?"

"Yes," I confirmed.

"Well, then. We're a matched set, because you regularly make no sense, and now is one of those times."

I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I loved her very much. "I meant that you could wear it on a chain. Around your neck. Beneath your shirt."

"Well, why didn't you _say_ that, then?"

"I thought it was obvious."

"Oh, well, excuse me. I've never been secretly engaged before. This is a first for me. I wasn't aware I was supposed to be engaging in such subterfuge. Should I get a secret decoder ring, too?"

"Now you're being purposefully difficult."

"No, it's called sarcasm. I would have assumed you'd have run into it in the last eighty-seven years, but then again, you've led a sheltered life, so never mind."

I sighed and dropped my head to the ground.

"You're angry, again," I said.

"Oh, no. I'm darkly amused. Can't you tell the difference?"

I decided not to lecture Bella on the finer point that sarcasm was, in fact, unacknowledged anger. Instead I breathed. I couldn't change her, but I could regulate my own emotions. I breathed some more.

After a while, I wondered about our day. Three weeks together and we hadn't had a single fight, and now in one day she'd gotten seriously angry with me twice. I thought about what could be going on – if I had precipitated it all, if something was going on in her life. Perhaps she wasn't getting enough sleep. That might be part of the problem. I tallied it up and averaged it out. She was getting about five and a half hours of sleep a night. That really wasn't enough. She ought to be getting eight. We'd have to adjust our patterns, perhaps have less sex. I wasn't excited about the prospect, and I doubt that Bella would be, either, but perhaps she would have a better idea.

I continued to mull the issue in my mind. She seemed to be getting along fine with her father. She'd made a friend in that Quileute boy, Jacob, but everything seemed to be fine on that front. Her studies were going well. No one was annoying her at school. She'd been getting fine grades since she came to Forks. She was getting along very well with my family, joining right in with the teasing and the games, and she seemed to genuinely enjoy her time with them in the evenings when she was over. She was getting orgasms a plenty – I never left her wanting, if I could help it. Over the last three weeks… Oh.

It was Sunday. Bella would start menstruating on Thursday of this week. It was likely that her emotions were slightly out of whack. This was not to say that she didn't have a valid point – clearly she didn't like surprises, and yes, we could have been clearer about the engagement ring – but this did at least explain things.

She still needed more sleep, however. But I didn't think I would bring that up until a week from Thursday.

***  
End of Chapter 9, part one  
***

Sooo... What did you think? You know I'm curious... Come on, click the green review button and let me know.


	19. Angelic Adonis, Disheveled, part 2

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta**: Colleen P., who left me to my own devices for a week while she dealt with exams, only to be shocked at what Bella, Edward, and I got up to while she was away… Meanwhile, _I_ look at is as a really lovely post-exam present…  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.  
**Summary**: What if Bella wasn't his singer? What if he _could_ hear her thoughts? Alice is betting that she'd _still_ rock his world, and you know me; I never bet against Alice.

**Author's Note**: This is dedicated with gratitude to all who have reviewed this story, thank you. If your review is signed (not anonymous) I can respond to you, but otherwise I am left to think my thoughts of gratitude and blessing, and occasionally prayer and reiki, to myself. You know who you are.

***  
Chapter 9: Angelic Adonis, Disheveled, part two  
***

I looked over at her. I set the ring box on my chest and used my free hand to rub a knuckle gently down the side of her cheek.

"I do love you, Bella. I don't _try_ to annoy you."

She sighed. "I know," she said. I could tell from her tone that the anger was gone now. But now I realized how easily it could come back, and I was prepared.

"It's just…" she trailed off. "It's such a weird custom, you know? I mean, these days. It's like, it's such an expensive gift, and it's totally one-sided. And it marks the woman as taken, but what marks the guy as taken, you know?"

"Do you want to mark me as taken?" I asked, looking over at her and ignoring for a moment the issues of secrecy.

She looked at me, and her wide chocolate brown eyes met mine. "Yes. I do."

"What do you suggest, then?"

"A tattoo that says 'Belongs to Bella'?" she suggested.

I laughed. "I would break the needle. What other suggestions do you have?"

She sighed and shrugged. _A ring, maybe. For you, too. Not that I have the money to get you one, of course._

"Perhaps you should go shopping with Alice, then. Get me my ring."

_With what outlay of cash?_

"Technically Alice bought your ring, too."

"Yes, with your money."

"No," I corrected. "With the family's money. You have a ring bought with the family's money. I could have a ring bought with the family's money, if only you would agree to go with Alice to choose it."

_I don't know. Maybe._

I could deal with maybe.

"In the meantime, will you go ahead and accept your ring?"

"Sure," she said.

I took the velvet ring box off my chest and handed it to her, closed.

She held it, closed. "Why is it so important to you, Edward?"

"If I could have had my way Bella, or if things had been different, if we'd met in a different time, or under different circumstances, we would already be married. You wouldn't have to wonder if you were really a part of my family. I wouldn't feel like I had to steal time to be with you."

"But things aren't different, Edward. We're getting married as soon as we legally can, before even common sense would dictate."

Now I was hurt. "You don't think it makes sense to marry me?"

_That's not what I said, nor what I meant. _"If we were a normal couple it would be very, very stupid to get married this early. That's what I mean."

"But we're not normal. Humans very rarely mate for life, and it would be stupid for them to marry so early in this generation. But vampires mate for life. It doesn't make sense to pretend that's not true, once you know it is."

_Yes, but I'm a human._

"You're a human mated to vampire. So you actually fall into the latter category."

She sighed. _Fine. Whatever._ She flipped open the lid of the box in front of her and I watched her eyes go wide and a look of horror cross her face.

This wasn't good.

_I can't accept this,_ was the instantaneous thought upon seeing the ring.

"How much did this cost, Edward?"

Two and a half million dollars, but I wasn't about to tell her that, not after the day we've had.

"Why does it matter?"

"How much, Edward?"

"Not much."

"You're lying," she said, glancing over at me.

"No, I'm not. It's relative. The ring was well within what I could afford to buy. So I did."

"So if I bought you a ring with your money exactly comparable to this, you wouldn't bat an eyelash?"

"No, I wouldn't. I would say thank you, then kiss you, then proceed to give you several orgasms."

She narrowed her eyes at me. _Well, aren't you just the bigger man?_

"I don't want to be the bigger man, Bella. I just want you to accept this gift."

She closed the box and put it back on my chest. She tucked her head down so I could no longer meet her eyes. Both of her arms were bent and tucked against my side. In fact, she had practically assumed fetal position, next to me. _I don't think I can do that, Edward. It's too much._

Well, shit.

I sighed and tossed the velvet box in the general direction of the knapsack, where it apparently would return home with me.

I rolled toward her, then, tucking the soft wool blanket more closely around her, even as I held her. I would try again later, and perhaps have better luck then.

The next day was sunny as well, so I didn't go to school. Instead, I researched marriage laws. You could get married in the state of Washington at eighteen, but it took thirty days to get a license, and presumably you had to be eighteen for all of those thirty days. So, it was Las Vegas, then, where we could literally show up at a wedding chapel and be married on the spot.

Of course, gathering that information had taken a ludicrously small amount of time, so at a quarter after eight in the morning I donned a hooded sweatshirt and gloves and drove to Seattle in the Vanquish. In the northern suburbs of the city was the closest decent bookstore. I pulled the hood back the moment I got into the store, removing my gloves and sticking them in the kangaroo pocket. I went directly to the information counter and the moment the staff members looked up to see me, they were falling over themselves to be helpful. In the end, the older one edged out the younger, but only by sheer dint of personality.

I smiled and made an effort to be as charming and non-threatening as possible. "Hello," I said. "I was wondering if you could help me find a few books."

"It would be my pleasure," the man behind the counter gushed. "Do you know what you're looking for?"

"Not exactly," I replied apologetically. "I need something about cooking and something about raising children."

"Let's start with cooking. What do you want to cook?"

"Let's back up," I said, "I need to learn how. I have no idea how to do even the simplest thing."

The salesman raised an eyebrow. "Oookay, then. You're going to want the updated version of the Joy of Cooking. It's a veritable _tome_, but it tells you how to do everything that is mentioned in the recipes, and it doesn't assume you know anything. Hell, it even tells you how to skin a rabbit."

I wondered if Bella liked rabbit. It had never come up in conversation, but I knew I was capable of catching one.

Ooo, venison. People liked to eat venison, right? I caught venison on a regular basis. I wondered if I shouldn't drink it's blood though, if I was going to serve it to Bella. Venom, and all.

"Does it have any recipes for venison?"

"Undoubtedly." We were walking to that section, and the associate handed the book to me from off the shelf. "Now, if you're learning about cooking from the ground up as an adult, then you might also enjoy Alton Brown. He's got a show on TV, but his books are about the science of cooking – why it happens as it happens, which is a really good thing to understand, because then you know better how to alter recipes, how to combine things, why some ingredients are essential and others are optional, that sort of thing."

"Then I definitely need to read him, as well," I said.

"He's written several books."

"I'll take them all," I said, before he could go on.

The associate looked at me. "You're really going all out, aren't you?"

I smiled. "Yes, I am."

"Whoever she or he is, they are a lucky, lucky person."

I grinned. "I'll let her know you said so."

"Well, alright," the associate said once he had given half of the Brown books to me, and kept half to carry himself. "That's a good start. Read all of that and you'll have all of the theoretical knowledge you'll need. You might want to watch someone else cook, or watch a few cooking shows to get the feel of how people move in the kitchen, if you've never really noticed before. Then all you have to do is practice. Now, you mentioned childcare?"

"Yes, my sister is planning on getting pregnant, and I'm going to be moving in with them to help out, but I really have no idea what I'm doing. I need some books on prenatal care of the mother and unborn child, early childhood development, and different theories of child care."

"Right. Okay, follow me."

"You'll definitely want to read this. So will she and her husband," he said, handing me 'What to Expect When You're Expecting'. "Now, we have some more hardcore psychology books on early childhood development, and we have some more laymen-friendly versions. Which one would you prefer?"

"Give me the hardcore. I can take it," I said with a grin.

"The customer is always right," he replied with a grin, handing me two books and explaining that they were competing theories, but that customers found them both helpful. He added three books on competing theories of childcare as well, an older one from the seventies and then two just recently published. "Well, this should give you a fair start. If you finish all of this, you won't be an expert, but you'll be ready to take care of that child."

I finished in the bookshop and drove directly home where I had ninety minutes to read before heading over to Bella's. Perhaps I would start reading at night once Bella fell asleep – there really was no other time, besides the sunny days, unless I wanted to bring the Joy of Cooking into Government class with me. I had roughly seven thousand pages worth of reading ahead of me. That would be something like a hundred hours of reading, not including moments to pause and wonder what the hell the author was thinking. At five hours a night, I could do it in twenty nights. That wasn't bad.

Bella and I barely made it to the couch when she came home and found me waiting just inside the front door. Eventually she did surface and once my jeans were buttoned back up and I could think clearly again I presented what used to be Alice's cell phone. Alice had another on order.

"You can charge it upstairs on your bedside table. The cord is already plugged in." I explained to her which numbers I had already programmed in – mine, Carlisle's, the police station, her mother's, Jacob Black's – and I coached her through recording a voice mail message. I then left her a voice mail, and taught her how to retrieve it.

_This is silly. Don't you think this is just a little silly? _

"Not even a little bit," I said. "I wasn't with you today, and I won't be with you tomorrow, either."

She whined. _I used to love the sun. We're no longer on speaking terms, however. Bring on the cloud cover. …though I could do without the rain, to be honest._

I smiled and brushed my lips against her cheek.

The next afternoon when she came home her mood was somewhat less than enthusiastic. She slammed the front door shut, said hi and then raced up to her room. I followed, confused.

"Bella, love, what's going on?"

"I've been bamboozled, that's what's going on." She took her cell phone and wallet out of her backpack and shoved it into an overly large, slightly hideous purse.

I tried not to smirk at her choice of words. I really didn't think it would be wise at this point, no matter how unintentionally funny she was being. Then I heard the beep of a waiting car outside.

Bella whined and sighed and it looked like she was about to blow a gasket. I took her face in my hands, tilted it up and summoned my most persuasive tone. "_Relax,"_ I ordered. I breathed in her face and said it again. I watched as her shoulders released and she took several deep breaths. "Now, tell me what is going on."

"Jessica and Angela and I are going dress shopping in Port Angeles tonight. That's Jessica right now."

"You already have a dress."

_I know._

"You always spend Tuesday afternoons at my house."

_I know. But you weren't in school today, you were 'camping' and I had your car and apparently everyone knows that the Cullens never show up when it's sunny out, and I had already agreed in general to go shopping with them and help them pick an outfit out, but with the caveat that I couldn't do Tuesdays or Thursdays. But you weren't in school, and so I had no way to argue, and I don't want to go to Port Angeles now, no matter how nice Angela is, I just want to stay here with you and read until Charlie comes home, but I can't because I've been bamboozled by Jessica. And I'm not happy about it._

I smiled and held her close. "Go. Relax and have as much fun as you can. If you see a grey sports car, you know I'm just making sure you don't get lost in the middle of the shopping district."

She snorted. _Are you really going to follow me up to Port Angeles?_

I shrugged. "I'm considering it. You're really quite accident-prone. I'd hate for something to happen to you when I could have prevented it."

Jessica beeped again.

Bella reached up to kiss me, and I bent my head down to meet her half way. It was a lovely kiss – sweet, lingering, with just the tips of our tongues meeting.

"I'll see you later on, then," she said.

"Call me if you get bored," I said, smirking, heading to her window as she went to the door.

I came out of her head voluntarily, before I was ripped summarily, and hopped out the window once I heard her drive off with the Viper. Jessica's mind, which I had largely been able to avoid for the last many weeks, was broadcasting quite loudly, speculating on Bella's luck, relative happiness, and the unfairness of the world. They hadn't picked up Angela yet.

I smirked as I passed them on the highway to Port Angeles, going almost twice their speed. Their thoughts were an amusing range.

_Who does he think he is? Speed Racer?_ Jessica wondered spitefully.

_That can't be safe. Pretty car, though,_ thought Angela.

_Is that you, Baby?_ Bella wondered in my general direction. I should have slowed down, because while I could hear Jessica and Angela continue on, I was out of hearing for Bella soft mental voice almost instantly.

I parked near the waterfront and brought out the Joy of Cooking, keeping one ear out for Angela's voice, definitely the better of the two that I could hear at some distance. Forty minutes later I heard her. They were heading to the one shopping mall of the small port town. I was working my way through poultry. I surfaced every ten minutes for a moment or two to make sure the three were still safe and relatively happy, but it wasn't until eighty minutes into their trip that I realized Bella wasn't with Angela and Jessica anymore. They still had plans to meet for dinner, but Bella was going to find a bookshop. There was one in the mall, but she hadn't gone in that direction.

I was fairly certain that the only other bookshop in Port Angeles wasn't going to interest her.

I wanted to call her, but I hesitated. If she wanted me to tag along, she would have called me. Then again, it was still partially sunny out, and perhaps she hadn't wanted to bother me. And I wasn't technically supposed to be in the area. I was still supposed to be camping. What if one of her friends saw us? Another good reason not to call. Maybe she still wasn't used to having a cell phone. Maybe it just never occurred to her to call. Maybe I should call her.

No. If she wants me around, she'll call me. She knows I'm here.

It was forty-five minutes of agony. I had one ear on Angela, who was expecting Bella to show up at the restaurant at any moment, and one ear out trying to scan the area. It was more difficult than I would have imagined to split my focus like that. As Angela's thoughts more and more reflected her worry, my own increased. I broke off from Angela and gave over my focus to scanning the area in broader and broader circles, looking in everyone's mind to try to catch a thought of Bella.

The sun wasn't down yet, but the shadows were long, and if I put the hood up and kept my hands in my pockets and my face east, I could avoid undue notice. I kept sweeping the area, but I was certain that she would be in the more populated areas. Why couldn't I find her?

My phone rang and I noticed it was Bella's number with a mixture of relief and dread. What if something had happened?

"Bella, where are you?" I said the moment I picked up the phone.

"Oh, good. You picked up. Um, you're in Port Angeles, right? I mean, that was you I saw on the road earlier, right?"

"Yes, I'm in Port Angeles. Where are you Bella? Are you alright?"

"Well… I… I'm not entirely sure about that."

I was out of the car with my hood up in an instant.

"Where are you?" I ground out. Why couldn't she get to the point? I kept scanning the area.

"I'm a couple of streets in from the really touristy part. There are a lot of old warehouses. I think I took a wrong turn, but I was just going to go around the block, instead of turning back…"

I had to run at a normal pace until I got out of the range of notice of the crowds. Still, I'm sure I looked like a human sprinting.

I changed the focus of my scan.

"And there are these guys... I don't… I mean, it's probably nothing, but it feels like they're following me, and it's kind of freaking me out. I don't suppose you'd like to come and find me?"

"I'm on my way. Keep talking."

"Oh. Good. I'm almost to the end of a block. Oh, gosh. I just turned around and they switched to my side of the street, and they're closer now. Oh, damn. It wasn't the end of a block. It's a dead end sort of loading area. Okay, still walking."

Bella kept talking, but now I heard the men who were most certainly following her. Like hounds to the hunter they were herding her. The hounds were bad enough, but the hunter himself was utterly despicable.

"Everything is going to be fine, Bella. I'm almost there." I knew that she had probably heard my rage in my tone, and I could only hope that she knew where it was directed – not at her, never at her. I was running through the shadows at top speed, but I slowed to a human sprint when I passed the hunter. It was all I could do to not to stop and tear his throat out, he and his companion. They were sick. They were twisted. He had raped and murdered before, and they had marked Bella for the same tonight. They'd seen her earlier, and when she wandered in the wrong direction, they took the opportunity presented to them.

I turned the corner and stopped. She was there, a hundred yards away, and there were two young men with disgusting thoughts following entirely too closely behind her.

"Edward, please tell me that is you that just turned the corner."

It was fully twilight now, and I pulled my hood back.

"Oh, thank God."

"Keep walking toward me, Bella," I said, continuing my human sprint toward her. It took me forever to reach her. The thugs thought I was just a college boy out for a run. At present they found me inconvenient.

When I reached Bella I pulled her into my arms just after I ended our call and put the cell phone back in my pocket.

"Love, are you alright?"

Her affirmative answer was so soft it was hard to hear. I wasn't in her head.

"I need you to speak, love."

She pulled back and gave me a look. She knew there was a reason I wasn't in her head, and she wondered what it had to do with our present circumstances.

"I wasn't entirely safe, was I?" she asked quietly. The two thugs were still approaching. They now saw me as more than a mere inconvenience, but were convinced that they could take me. I desperately wanted to prove to them just how wrong they really were.

"You are now," I pointed out.

I swallowed down the flood of venom brought up by her nearness and my rage. Holding her was the only thing that was keeping me sane.

"Can we get out of here, please?"

If I waited just a few moments more, I might get to kill them. In a moment of weakness, and maybe because I wanted her to say no as much as say yes, I asked Bella for permission.

I was filled with rage, but I held her close and whispered in her ear, modulating my tone as best I could as I watched the thugs get closer and closer.

"Bella, sweetheart. Would you be able to forgive me if I killed them?"

She squeezed me to her harder, and she had a thought of restraining me, anchoring me.

"No! You may not kill them just because they scared me."

"They're evil, Bella. They wanted to do awful things to you. They, and the ones who were waiting for you around the corner. I passed them when I came to you. They think they can incapacitate me. They think no one will hear you scream. They haven't thought it through, but the one who waits, he has. He wouldn't care if I died. He's looking forward to your death. Please? Please let me kill them, just this once?"

_No! _ I heard her scream in her headspace. "You may _not_ kill _anyone_, Edward!" She clung to me such that if I moved I would end up dragging her with me.

They heard her words, however. It made them stop. It made them think again. I looked up at them and glared, and I knew that I looked fearsome. They were fifteen feet away, well within the space that humans typically picked up the cues we were sending – either seduction or terror – but their reactions were delayed. They must have been drinking.

I had a regrettable moment of magnanimity.

"Run," I ordered them, the menace clear in my voice. "Now."

The turned around and stumbled away, half running, half falling over each other.

"Edward, let's just go. Please. I want to go."

We couldn't go forward or back, lest we pass any of them and I succumb to the temptation of truly begging forgiveness of Bella after the fact instead of permission beforehand. There was no other human exit, so I picked Bella up in my arms and kissed her forehead. Then I jumped up to the roof of the warehouse we stood next to.

"Oh!"

I carried her slowly and carefully across the rooftop. This one wasn't meant to be walked on, but the one next door was, so I lightly leapt to that roof and put Bella down near wide raised edge that she could sit on.

"Baby, would it… would it help if you were inside my mind?"

"Probably," I said harshly, pacing before her now. I should have killed them. In hindsight I understood that. They were so close. I could have had them. Now I would have to hunt them down.

_Then come inside! _ She said loudly.

I resisted. I really just wanted to go back and kill them. Bella was safe now. It wouldn't take long. I could do it in twenty minutes at the outside, but probably less than five. They couldn't have gotten far. I wouldn't linger. I would drag them into an alley and snap their necks. One, two, three, four, and then I would be done. She could stay here, safe, and I would come back, and then we could just go home.

_Edward. __**Edward.**_"Edward," she called to me. "Come here. Sit down. Closer," she specified when I sat down too far away for her liking. When I did not move, she edged closer to me so the outside of our thighs touched. She put her hand on my cheek.

The bloodlust flared and the venom pooled in my mouth again. This was not helping matters.

"I'm about to kiss you. I just wanted to warn you. So unless you'd like a _really_ serious crisis on your hands, you'd better swallow that venom and get in here quick, because _I_ don't want you to kill me anymore than _you_ do."

I almost got up. I didn't… I didn't want solace, and I didn't want it forced on me, dammit! I wanted to tear their awful throats out. I wanted to rend them limb from limb. To hell with simply snapping their necks, now that I thought about it, what I really wanted to do was grind their faces into a pulp, rendering them absolutely unrecognizable. They had wanted to rape my love. They had wanted to use her, torture her, and finally when they were done with her, leave her for dead, to die slowly, suffering, humiliated, and alone. Like Rosalie.

And like Rosalie, I wouldn't taint myself with their blood. Like Rosalie, I would simply kill them, then leave.

Emmett would understand. Emmett would come back with me and kill them.

Yes, maybe that was best. It was better that Bella not know, at least not yet, not until she experienced this life, not until she had gained a little perspective. I would stay with her until I could be trusted not to kill them instantly on sight, I would return home, and I would get Emmett.

And together, Emmett and I would kill them all.

On this I had firmly decided, and if Alice didn't like it, she could take her opinion and deliver it to the birds and trees.

All of this I thought between one of Bella's heartbeats and the next. I sunk into her mind, then, resistant to the core until I felt the sweetness and the strength of her surround me. And then I realized that I had seriously underestimated the profundity to which Bella was a non-violent creature.

She would forgive me anything. I could see that now. She would forgive me, even, of her own murder, if I ever lost control. She would certainly forgive me the murders of other people. It wouldn't ever be acceptable to her, however, that I had killed in her name, as she would never wish them dead. If I were to do it, I would have to admit that it was my own rage that could not be controlled, that could not be pacified. If I killed them, which I was still very deeply tempted to do, it would have to be because I and only I wanted them dead. She wanted nothing of the kind, no matter what they had hoped to do to her.

She was too self-sacrificing. She would never make it as a vampire. Then again, she reminded me of Carlisle, who would not take the life of another human being even as a half-starved, half-mad newborn. Was this the sort of vampire Bella would turn out to be? Another person beloved in my life whose ideals, whose own personal reality I could never, ever live out completely myself? Would her integrity always be so much more robust than my own?

Deep within I knew what the answer would be, even as I accepted that she had played dirty to calm me down. It was with shame that I swallowed my venom back and pressed my closed lips to hers. I breathed in her scent and beheld the irony of our situation. She frequently called me Adonis, she called me an Angel, but all of that was based on looks, and nothing more. If there was an incarnate deity around here somewhere, I could more easily see it in her.

I leaned my forehead against hers after our chaste kiss was finished. "I think… it would be… helpful… for me… if you stayed with me for a while. So I don't do something I would later regret."

_Of course I will. _She got up and shifted so she could sit across my lap. _I should call Angela and let her know I won't be at dinner. Hmm. I'll have to tell her something. The truth clearly won't do._

I listened as she quickly concocted a story about Rosalie being in a minor car accident, and just happening to run into Alice on the street just as Alice was receiving the call. Naturally, Alice was distraught and Bella had volunteered to drive her back home again.

It was actually quite a good story. She delivered it well, as well. The moment she hung up, her phone rang again. She thought it was Angela again, but when she picked up I heard Alice's voice quite clearly.

"_So, I'm distraught, am I?"_

"Sorry about that, Alice. Um, I needed a cover story."

"_Yes. Speaking of which, how is Edward? Still plotting to kill anyone?"_

She looked over at me. I didn't have it in me to smile, not even slightly, but I did manage to roll my eyes.

"Not at this precise moment, I don't think."

"_Good. We have enough to worry about, what with Rosalie getting run over and me being distraught."_

"I'm really sorry about that, Alice."

"_Yes, well. I'm your kind, understanding sister. It's Rosalie you're going to have to actually apologize to. She's the one who Carlisle is going to have to admit to the hospital over night."_

"So I guess this means you guys are back from your camping trip."

"_We will be soon, with Rosalie faking a concussion in tow. It won't have been a car accident, by the way. We're going to say she fell down a ravine, and we just misunderstood on the phone. I, of course, had come back early with Esme to go shopping. But of course, you'll be able to spread the news of the true accident tomorrow, and that she's recovering at home. Emmett thanks you, by the way. He will be quite naturally too distraught to go to school while Rosalie is home, recovering. Someone has to wake her up every hour, he reminds us."_

"Naturally," Bella responded, a hint of laughter in her voice.

"_May I speak with Edward?"_

Bella handed me the phone and laid her head on the shoulder opposite to the ear that I had just raised the phone. She wouldn't be able to hear the conversation.

"Emmett wants to know if you're going to need him tonight or not."

"Yes," I responded. Something was going to happen tonight, whether or not anyone died. At least one of them was wanted in another state. If I didn't end up killing him, he was certainly going to be delivered to the state police, tied up like a hog.

"Emmett would like me to relay to you that he anticipates this evening spent on your behalf to be slightly less fun than Condom Testing Night, but that he will do it because you're finally getting laid on a regular basis, and lord knows you need it. His words."

"You can tell Emmett—" But I was cut off with Bella's thought.

_Be nice._

"Thank you," I finished.

After that, I just held Bella, trying to empty my mind of the rage. She held me on the rooftop, too, her arms around my neck. Her silence and her presence were more effective tools than any words could have been. Eventually I was calm again.

I wouldn't read tonight, I thought, running back to Forks many hours later. I just wanted to return to Bella, to lay next to her as she slept, to try in utter silence and stillness to be half the person she was.

I didn't kill them. Emmett didn't kill them. No one died at my hand, or my request tonight, though once I explained what had happened, Emmett was all for killing them, and it wasn't all memories of Rosalie's pain, either. Bella had really started to grow on Emmett, and he simply wanted to kill them for planning to hurt her, a desire I could more than empathize with.

The three companions we decided to leave in peace. Two of them already had their wits scared half out of them. It was the fourth, the one wanted out of state on similar charges, who was the one we tracked down together, tormented just slightly, tied up, knocked out and put in the back of Emmett's Jeep. Emmett continued on south without me. I have run back to Forks, and now it is two in the morning.

My love, my heart was tossing and turning. I could hear her as I approached the house. She was restless, though there was no wind, no rain. Before I could finish shedding my clothes, before I could climb into bed with her she had already begun to calm. I wondered why.

She woke instantly at five that morning, surprising me. Normally waking up was a process that took Bella quite some time to accomplish on her own, giving me plenty of notice to help the process along in the way we both enjoyed best. There was no such morning delight, today. Instead we made the sweetest, gentlest love we ever had done. All throughout I was present in the knowledge of how fragile, how vulnerable, how very _mortal_ she was. The knowledge pained me, even as it made the moment all the sweeter for knowing that there would never be another one that was quite like this. Yet all of this was not what shocked me. Shocking was how much I needed her. It wasn't just a desire, or a craving, or even an obsession, it was stark, simple need, and it was shockingly strong. It was as if there were lines between Bella and I, firm chords anchoring her to every part of me, each section of my bones, my muscles, my thoughts, my feelings, everything there was to me, and if something were to break Bella, to kill Bella, the chords would not merely be cut from between us, they were jerk in all different directions, ripping me apart in the most painful and absolute way. I would no longer be Edward. I would be a thing that resembled him, slightly. My defense of Bella felt more like self-defense than it had a right to. My protective instinct for Bella was just as much the protection of my own sanity, and it hurt, for I realized that I could never be as selfless as she could be.

There was a part of me, small but strong, that wanted to make her a vampire right now, despite the angst it would create in her life. I would love her forever, this I understood, but I wanted to love her while she was around, not in her eternal absence.

But I did not bite her neck with a mouth full of venom. I did not suck out pint after pint of her delicious blood. I did not let the venom do its work as I muffled her screams. My family did not have to cover up for all of us, I did not have to finish out the year at an empty biology table, publicly grieving before we quietly moved out of the area due to some family emergency of Esme's or Carlisle's, needing to be closer to some fictional family member on the other coast. I made love to her instead, and she to me. She knew I was troubled, though I said nothing, afraid that to say one thing would be to spill everything in an unchecked torrent. Her body and her mind were the sweet balm that they always were, to me, and I partook of both in seemingly endless fashion, silently, desperately, past the mark when common sense would have dictated we both stop as her father arose at six in the morning, past the mark when she needed to get up on time at six thirty, past the mark when we should have been at our first classes at seven fifteen. I wanted neither of us to orgasm, for that would have been our last excuse to remain abed, gone. Bella was fully aware of what was going on, and though she feared turning into 'that sort' of student, she judged this moment to be more important, just this once. At eight she drew the line.

_Edward, baby, we need to make a choice. If we're going to school, we need to go now. We both need a shower and I need to eat something if I'm getting up. If we're not getting up right now, then I need to call Charlie and have him call the school, so they don't call him instead._

I didn't want her to undermine her integrity, and I knew that school attendance was important to her. I also believed that she wouldn't have provided the option if she didn't actually mean it, and if I was honest with myself, I needed her so badly right now I could have cried.

I looked into her giving brown eyes and felt my heart rend. I loved her eyes, and I would miss their depth and color, and yet their very hue was just one of many constant markers of her frailty, of how easily she could be ripped away from this life, from me, as if I needed a visual reminder after the strong scent of her humanity, the delicious bouquet of her blood, and the pounding of her heart, a steady and strong beat in the room.

"Call Charlie," I whispered, my voice steady only due to the fact that it was barely there.

She called, still entwined with me, and trod the fine line between too ill to go to school and not ill enough to merit her father coming home again. He promised to pick up something for dinner on the way home, and to call her after lunch to check on her.

We continued on, then, soft and gentle. We stopped for long stretches of time, myself still hard with in her, just feeling each other – the press of our flesh against the other, the scent and flavor of the other savored on the tongue.

At ten I knew we should stop for food and a hot bath and so I provoked her orgasm. Bella had a vague thought that I could bite her and take more than usual, if I wanted, and when I hesitated, the thought became much stronger.

_You don't leave a scar, do you baby? And I don't have to smell it, you're always so careful. Red Cross says I can give a pint every eight weeks. I'd gladly give you a mouthful._

I shouldn't. It's a slippery slope. A mouthful today, a mouthful tomorrow, before you know it Bella's anemic, and I'm a selfish bastard. Besides, her period would begin tomorrow. Alice had already pulled her aside and discussed the relative merits of the more interesting ways to deal with her menstrual flow, and Bella, beautiful woman that she was, both thought it was sort of kinky, and yet was looking forward to that much cunnilingus.

_Come on, baby, just this once. I know you love it – I know there aren't words to describe how much you love it, and I know that you need it too, right now. I didn't have to hear inside their heads, but I know it was hard for you, baby. _She kissed along the side of my face. "Come on, Edward," she whispered to me. She pressed her fingers at the back of my head, trying to force my head down, my lips to her neck.

_It's what I can give you, baby. My love, my mind, my body, and my blood. It's all I have to give you. Please accept it. It's all I have to give._

I bit down then, ever so gently, not wishing to tear muscle or sinew. I bit down against my better judgment, but as I'd reflected before, I wasn't strong enough to resist what Bella offered me. My predictably hard orgasm started the moment her artery gushed the first pulse of blood onto my tongue. One heartbeat later my mouth was only half full – probably not more than an ounce – when I licked the wound closed, sealing first the tear in the artery, then the skin, terrified I would go too far, or spill her blood and ruin the moment of her gift to me.

I threw my head back, my lips firmly sealed, still savoring the taste of her blood, still holding it in my mouth as I keened softly, holding her close to me as I jerked uncontrollably, my hips rolling and pushing towards hers.

_That's it, baby. That's it. I love watching you come. I love the sounds you make._ She had her hands in my hair and one leg over my hip as we lay side by side. _I love looking at you. You're so beautiful, baby, so sexy._

I swallowed slowly, bit by bit by bit, wanting to draw it out, to savor and linger, to remember and cherish each drop. Her blood slowly slid down my throat, easing the perpetual roughness created by my choice in diet. Only a few days ago I had felled a mountain lion with Emmett, and while I needed that volume of blood, one ounce of Bella was infinitely more satisfying. It also fed the craving. I wanted more. I wouldn't ask – I had begged for her menstrual blood, but that's because there it would be, just going to waste day after day for an entire week every month. I begged because I didn't want to find myself envious of a tampon. But taking advantage of what nature seemed to be delivering to me struck me as a very different thing than gently tearing into her throat on a regular basis. Or her arm. Or her leg. But I wanted it. I wanted it as one of the only perks of being mated to a human. I wanted it – I wanted a pint every eight weeks, I wanted whatever she would allow, whatever would be safe, and it was proof to me that however tame I might seem to be, I was still a monster on a leash, currently chained to her bed with the muzzle gloriously off for one brief moment of blood and heat and sex.

And so I came inside of her, her blood coating the inside of my mouth and throat, my mind wrapped in her own loving thoughts, her arms and legs holding me, and the hot, moist sheath of her sex accepting my ardor in a manner that might one day lead to her abdomen becoming round and ripe with child, something that I decided in that moment I desperately wanted, if she was agreeable, if, if, if… I didn't think of the ifs. I just imagined what it would be like, taking her gently from behind while she was pregnant. I wondered if her scent would change. My thoughts were scattered, but I focused on the sensory overload: heat of her core, the deliciousness of her blood untainted by the blood lust or frenzy, the erotic smell of the two of us together, the peace and joy of her mind, and the sound of her sweet words she was still cooing to me as my orgasm peaked and began to slowly wane.

_Oh, baby, yes. Yes, yes, yes. I love you. I love you so much, Edward. I'll always be there for you. I'm not going anywhere. So beautiful when you're like this. My Fallen Angel. My love. My mate. My Edward._

My head fell onto one of her pillows and we clutched each other as I began to soften within her. We were safe in each other's arms, at least for the moment. If that was all I could have, I would accept it.

***  
End chapter 9  
***

And Chapter 9 clocked in at 35 pages in Microsoft Word, breaking my 25 page chapter rule, but I couldn't very well just cut it off in the middle of Port Angeles, now could I? So... Thoughts? Feelings? Rotten Tomatoes? Bits of Dark Chocolate?


	20. Garden Sculpture, complete in one part

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta**: To the ever faithful Colleen P, and the horror she displayed at rewatching Twilight and rewitnessing the freaky-stalker-horror of Edward observing our Bellarific while she snoozes.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.  
**Summary**: The day Edward finds his mate, his world grinds to a halt and starts spinning the other way 'round. Vampires mate for life, you know, and it's instantaneous, irrevocable, and irreversible. This is that story.

**Author's Note:** I was reading in another author's note about how this particular author was going to make her description of the wedding night longer and presumably with another sex scene or two thrown in, but decided against it, on the basis that it would just get repetitive and crass if she did anything more than the two she'd already done.

So, I have a question for you, dear reader. Have you found the sex scenes in this story repetitive and crass? (After the first two of course, which I suppose we could count Bella's dream with the handcuffs, and Edward & Bella's mutual masturbation directly after the dream.) I haven't bothered to count them as I went along and I have no great desire to go back and recount, but I do know there have been more than two… You may not be surprised to know that I have an opinion on this topic, but I don't have yours yet, so, do tell. I'm interested in your feedback.

***  
Chapter 10: Garden Sculpture – complete in one part.

***

It was the next day, just as Biology was ending, that I caught the scent of Bella's menstrual blood. I hardened instantly and was once again grateful for Alice's wardrobe choices. It was bad enough that we were sitting in a darkened room ostensibly watching a video. If I was in the dark with Bella, I really only wanted to be doing one of three things with her and since having sex and talking were both out, I really wanted to be holding her. And I couldn't. It was frustrating. Add the fact that I now wanted her to hop up on the lab table so I could eat her out, admittedly activity that was presently forbidden, my level of frustration was only increasing. The farthest we dared go were our clasped hands resting on my thigh. I leaned over to whisper near-silently in her ear.

"This movie is killing me," I remarked.

_Tell me about it._ Bella had a brief fantasy of slowly slipping – with much more grace than I fancy she would actually be able to employ – down to her knees on the floor beneath the lab table to suck me off whilst I held a bored expression on my face, my head propped up listlessly by one hand.

I chuckled softly in her ear, trying not to let my frustration breed more crankiness than necessary – I was trying to learn my lessons from Bella. I couldn't get much harder, but the fantasy was quite nice. Impossible, of course, but nice. I licked her ear as a thank you.

_Ooo, Baby. Now you're making me wish I __**could**__ go down on you right now. I mean, I've been trying to be good, you know? With the fantasizing, I mean. 'Cause I know it's hard on you when I'm not and we can't do anything about it, but ooo… But I'm glad we're going back to your house in an hour._

"Me too," I whispered. "I'm looking forward to licking you clean, as far as my tongue can reach."

Bella gasped softly and shuddered at the image I had put in her head. She had elaborated on it, however. She was splayed across our sheets, hair in utter disarray, completely naked, one hand clutching at my head, one hand at her own breast. I was fully clothed, half kneeling on the floor by the bed, and her legs were over my shoulders. I could hear what she thought of the image, I could feel her very keen memory of what it felt like to have my tongue buried deep within her, as it was presently in her imagination. Even as she kept that image firmly in mind, she spoke to me. _So, I've officially started my period, huh? Good thing I've got that thingie with me,_ she said, referring to the silicon cup that would sit just inside of her and collect her blood, keeping it warm and waiting for me. _I'll put it in before I change for gym._

I shuddered at the thought and wondered if we would actually make it back to my house. The locker rooms at the gym were out, as they would be used by the after school sports teams for changing. There was no building, inside or out, that would be private enough, as none of the teachers went home immediately after classes were finished. My car couldn't guarantee enough privacy, besides how awkward it would be. Full on penetrative sex was cumbersome enough in a car, though possible. Cunnilingus would require us to be more acrobatic in the backseat than I wished to be in the school parking lot, or anywhere along the highway. If push came to shove it would have to be the forest. Here's to hoping we could wait, because the bed would be much more comfortable for her.

"I don't have words for how much I want you right now, Bella."

I could hear her almost silent snicker. _I bet you do, actually._ She was now replaying her very vivid memories of Sunday morning's early session of sex where I… was particularly vocal. I might have blushed at this point, had I been able to do so.

"Well, perhaps. But I dare not put into words what I want right now, lest you decide to throw caution to the wind and sink to your knees and shock our biology class, against your better judgment," I whispered.

I heard her soft snort. Her hand squeezed mine. _You think you're that good?_

I smiled. I licked her ear. "No," I whispered. "But I know _you_ think I'm that good." It was a good thing I was whispering so very softly – it kept the utter satisfaction from my voice quite successfully.

_True,_ she conceded. _And, I don't just think it, I __**know**__ it, thank you very much._

My smile got wider. I kissed her ear and retreated back to my side of the table, contenting myself with my arm and leg pressing up against hers, our hands clasped on my thigh until the end of the hour.

I walked Bella to the Gymnasium and she giggled when I smiled at her lasciviously just before kissing her knuckles.

Emmett noticed how tense I was in Spanish and it took him exactly two minutes and forty five seconds to guess why. Everyone knew, after all, exactly when Bella started her birth control prescription, and the pill did nothing so well as regulate a woman's menstrual cycle.

_Dude, maybe this is cosmic payback for making you wait eighty-seven __years. But blood without the bloodlust? I mean, is it even worth it? I mean, does it even taste good without the frenzy?_

I gave Emmett a look that conveyed my meaning. Of _course_ it tasted good. I wasn't suddenly _**not**_ a vampire, I just didn't have the frenzy, that's all.

_Then dude, you __**so**__ are about to have your cake and eat it, too. I'm almost jealous, you know? You get to have fifteen months of bloody, delicious sex. _

So, none of the family have figured out that I've been taking… sips from Bella. And if Alice knows, she's still keeping my secrets. Come to think if it, Alice probably did know.

_Live it up, Romeo, _Emmett continued, without pausing._ But don't forget that she does need to eat her dinner tonight. I'll be around, but Jazz and Ali are getting out of Dodge and Carlisle and Esme are starting their weekend away early. Rosie-posie probably won't come out from underneath the truck since there's no family social hour. I'll make Bella a salad – dude, I love chopping vegetables. Who knew you could have so much socially acceptable fun with knives?__ And Edward, I totally dig your Joy of Cooking. Man, it explains __**everything**__! Way too much fun. You need a sous chef, you let me know._

I enjoyed Emmett's ramble. It was both soothing and amusing, and it took my mind at least partially off of Bella's delicious scent.

"I really don't like Badminton," were Bella's first words when she came out of the gym locker room with the other girls. I laughed and took up her hand in mine as we headed towards the building that housed our lockers.

"Sports aren't your forte, love."

"You apparently enjoy baseball," she said, her tone doing nothing to hide her petulance.

I laughed louder and turned heads. I pulled her hand up to my lips so I could kiss our entwined fingers. "It's a family thing. It's not that we adore baseball, it's that we like to play it together. But Jasper, for instance, _does_ have mad skills."

She laughed at my terminology.

"I used to think that he was quite good, but Emmett has informed me otherwise. Mad skills it is."

_Oh yes, you definitely flow with the times, Master Edward._

I snorted quietly to myself at her reference to the period in which I was born. "You should come with us the next time we play. There's a place we go, and the weather has to be just right."

Bella snorted at me. "You're joking, right? Me, playing baseball?"

"Well, not exactly _playing_," I clarified as she checked her assignment notebook and switched out the books she would need to finish her work this evening. "We've modified the rules over the years," I said, my voice dropping so the conversation could no longer be overheard so easily. "You know, to make it a little more challenging. Larger field, for instance. And there are a lot of rules that don't apply to us. We never foul, and if we miss the ball, it's a strike. And… you've seen how fast I can run. For you, playing baseball with the Cullens… It would be more watching and laughing at our attempts to cheat."

Bella giggled. "That I can do."

We walked to the car in companionable silence, but the moment I congratulated myself on successfully focusing on other things, all I could think about was her blood. I was not a slave to my hormones, however. I could make it home without rushing. There was no need to drive faster than usual, or fail to park in the garage, or run with Bella around to the back of the house where I could jump up into my open window, or strip her clothes off for her at a speed she wouldn't be able to follow, all the better so I could push her onto the bed five minutes faster. There was no need. I wouldn't do it.

_Baby, are you driving slower than normal?_

See? No need.

_You pick __**now**__ as the time you want to more closely follow traffic laws?_ She was incredulous. _Do you not really want to do this? _"Edward, you don't have to… I mean, don't feel you have to… oh god…" _And now is where I die of embarrassment. Maybe you should just take me home so I can crawl into a hole in the ground where I can stay until I'm pregnant or a vampire and no longer have to deal with this._

How had this gone south so quickly? I pulled over on the side of the highway before she could get any farther, bringing the car to a gentle but firm halt. I put it in park, leaned over and kissed her solidly.

_Oh. Okay, um, hmm. That's nice. Oh, Edward, I love it when you do that with your tongue._

I broke off the kiss long before it was done, panting. Somehow, and I wasn't precisely sure how, my right hand was at the back of her head, my fingers plunged through her thick brown hair, and my other hand – I am somewhat ashamed to say – was brazenly cupping her right breast over her shirt, but from within her open jacket. My voice was lower and less controlled when I spoke.

"Never, but _never_ doubt, Bella, that I find you _utterly delectable_ at all times." I wasn't done, but I noted that her heart rate spiked even more than it usually did when we were close like this, her eyes dilated almost instantly and I could smell the thick aroma of her arousal now quite clearly in the car. I leaned into her again, but not to kiss her. I just wanted to smell her. I just wanted to be so close, I just wanted to tease myself, and her. I brushed against the side of her face, from her jaw to her hairline, just taking in her scent, her fragrance of lavender, freesia, desire, and _me_. Bella smelled of _me_ now, in a way that she couldn't simply shower off. My scent was all over her clothes, her hair, her skin, her room, her possessions. Her bedroom at Charlie's house didn't simply smell like her in the delicious way I once imagined. Nearly a month into living in Forks, and that bedroom smelled like the both of us, and it was a beautiful thing.

Less than a heartbeat later, I continued on in my effort to correct Bella's misunderstanding of my motivation. "I had hoped you would have realized by now that the _blood_ only makes it _so much better."_ I licked her ear and continued my explanation, whispering to her, brushing my thumb over her hard nipple. "I am what I am, Bella. Whether or not you believe I'm monstrous, there's a beast inside of me that is so primal it _can_ be monstrous. You've checked its rage too often to not see, Bella. The roof in Port Angeles was only the most recent incident. You've never seen the frenzy, and that's just as well. You would be in terrible danger if you saw it in anyone else. But you… you've stopped my frenzy in its tracks, sweetest Isabella." I paused here to just breathe in her scent and a shiver ran up my spine. I continued on, whispering against the shell of her ear. "You've got a chokehold on the chain around my neck. You've got the monster in me acting like an overeager, well-meaning puppy. And today, you've got the monster in me chained to your bed, you've taken the muzzle off, and now you're offering to feed me the proverbial peeled grapes while scratching my tummy." I chuckled and sucked the lobe of her ear into my mouth for a moment. She gasped, but was other wise quiet in thought and word. "The only appropriate response I could ever make, Isabella Marie, is absolute adoration and utter gratitude. Never doubt my adoration. Never doubt my gratitude. And never, Bella, _never_ doubt, that you have me wrapped around your littlest finger. Everything else follows."

And then I kissed her again, or rather, she kissed me. Her hands, previously on her lap, framed my face, holding me still, captive. _Home. Now. I think it's time to chain up the monster, again, _she thought, and with it came the most delicious and delightful fantasy.

I had long since given up my somewhat puritanical views regarding sex, but Bella's imagination never ceased to fascinate and amaze me.

So, she wanted to chain me up, did she? Heavy chains connecting to wrist shackles and trailing off the edge of the bed. Ankles shackled in a similar manner. But most interesting was what she had me wearing around my neck, and around my waist. Around my neck, a thick black leather collar with a short slender chain attached to it. Around my waist a similar slender chain with a thin silver padlock – the key to which was tucked into the Cullen crest wrist band – and on the padlock written, 'Belongs to Bella'.

Bella was _deliciously_ kinky. So, apparently, was I, for thinking her fantasy had merit. I could work with this.

I ended the kiss and put the car in gear, pulling back out onto the highway and hitting the gas. "It's not a tattoo, love, but I'd wear it."

"No! I didn't mean, I mean, you can't…" _You can't wear a collar to school. But, um… the other part? _She very clearly imagined me shirtless with my jeans open and just off my hips (clearly she liked that look on me, it seemed to be cropping up so often of late) and that thin chain around my waist, not tight across my abs but drooping slightly, almost following the 'V' between the edge of my lower abdominals and my hipbones that she liked so much. It was pulled by the weight of the miniscule padlock, that had I been wearing my boxer briefs, would have been resting right over my flaccid cock. In her imagination, it rested on my lower abs, just behind my very rigid cock. She imagined me changing in the gym locker room, the chain resting on the outside of my boxer briefs. She imagined us having sex in a variety of positions, and in each one she could feel the chill and rasp of the metal against her skin. She was almost breathless when she spoke. "You… probably… wouldn't… want…"

"I want it," I said, my voice rougher than normal. "In platinum. With the engraving. You keep the key. Talk to Alice. Make it happen."

_Oh, god, Edward, that is so hot. But, um, I'm not sure I can talk to Alice about this. I can barely talk to you about this. If I had to describe this out loud, I mean, I wouldn't have gotten past the fantasy part. Be grateful you can hear my thoughts._

"Oh, I am. Okay, let's practice before we get home. She's not here this evening, by the way. But we can call her before school tomorrow. Repeat after me, 'Alice, I need your help in obtaining an engagement present for Edward.'"

_Alice, I –_

"Out loud."

She cleared her throat. I pulled over because we were almost there now. "Alice, I need your help… um, in obtaining an engagement present for Edward."

"I want a very sturdy 28" – I think 28" would provide a slight drape without threatening to fall off me – platinum chain with a platinum padlock and key."

She swallowed so hard I could hear her. "I want a v-v-very sturdy 28" platinum chain w-w-with a platinum padlock. And key." She was laughing, but obviously felt no humor. I think she was shocked that she _could_ say it, after all.

"The padlock needs to say 'Belongs to Bella'. Edward suggested Tiffany's."

_Omigod, it's like a chastity belt! _We both laughed at that. Still giggling, she parroted my words. "The padlock needs to say 'Belongs to Bella'. Edward suggested Tiffany's."

"See?" I asked. "Not difficult at all. Besides, the minute she starts scanning our futures, as she does on a regular basis, she'll see you asking. She'll probably be waiting for our call at 5:30 tomorrow morning."

I continued the drive, grinning with her, holding her hand until I had to put the car in park again, in the garage. We kissed in a lingering fashion after I helped her out from the car. Afterwards, still with one arm around her, I leaned into her ear and whispered. Rosalie was only two cars away, but already immersed in her happy place of automotive chaos, and history had proven that nothing short of Emmett himself could tear her attention away. Emmett, in the house, would be able to hear if he was listening, and he was no doubt listening, but that didn't mean he would understand what I said.

"I'm looking forward to receiving my present, Bella. Even more so, to you putting it on me. You promise you'll call Alice tomorrow morning?"

Bella giggled and kissed little butterfly kisses all across my cheekbones first on one side of my face, then the other.

_Baby, if you're willing to let me chain you up, I'm not going to say no. _ "I promise," she whispered. _ It's so sexy it blows my mind. I can't believe you're willing to do something like this._

"Willing," I growled, pushing her up against the door of the Volvo. "Able," I said, still growling, and licking up the column of her neck. "Oh so ready. And that won't be the only thing that blows your mind." I kissed her hard and pushed my hips up into hers. She held on tight to me and wanted to wrap one of her legs around me, but her balance was all wrong. She whimpered in frustration instead.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Garage." Rosalie was cleaning out some mechanical bit or other with a series of q-tips, and clearly had gotten tired of our floor show.

"Sorry, Rosalie," Bella said, all apologies, and blushing.

"Uh huh. Just go away."

We did. I had more pressing concerns requiring my immediate attention, anyway. There was the immediate situation to attend to, and future plans. By the time Bella had received my 'chastity belt' I wanted to have the rest of the equipment for her fantasy on hand as well, for one,

Bella seemed happier and lighter as we made our way inside. After her bondage fantasy, the thought of me wallowing with my face between her thighs licking her cramps away all afternoon was apparently somewhat tamer in ranking, in her mind. I was not about to argue.

'_Never doubt that you have me wrapped around your littlest finger.' I said something like that to Charlie once. Did you know?_

"Yes," I growled on the stairs to the second floor.

_I hope it didn't offend you. But you know what they say about eavesdroppers. Sometimes they hear things they wished they hadn't._

"It was true then, it's true now. Even more so now, maybe." Now that we were here, so close to our bed – it might have been my room, but it was our bed – it was getting harder and harder to be patient. Harder in more ways than one.

_You know it's the same, right? Right, Edward? You've got me wrapped around your littlest finger, too. I'd do anything for you. Anything you ask._

Except accepting my ring, I thought sadly. Now wasn't the time, though. She wouldn't be able to refuse it once she gave me my belt. At least, I sincerely hoped not.

Upstairs in my room with the door closed she lay stripped and sprawled out on our bed. My shirt and shoes were off and the top button of my jeans was undone, but that was all I had the patience for. I licked and kissed her to the sound of her moans of encouragement, the feeling of her fingers in my hair, her nails scraping against my skull. Exercising great care, I pulled the little silicon cup out from within her, and had I been capable, I might have fainted from sheer joy. There was nearly a half ounce of thick, rich, red, delicious menstrual blood, warm and waiting for me.

_Weird. The smell of menstrual blood never has fazed me. I wonder why._

I heard her, but I paid absolutely no attention to her as I tipped the cup back and let it slide down my open throat, much like I imagined young people doing shots at a bar, as I'd seen in films. I suppose I ought to have been able to predict the immediate result, but honestly, I wasn't thinking very hard about practical matters just at that moment. Right there, right then, half kneeling on the bed, and half standing at the end with one hand on her naked thigh, I came, hard. I had a brief flash of panic before I gave myself over to the feeling, my new motto being 'fuck it'. I gave myself over to the sensation, only the second time I'd ever come outside of Bella in the history of my memory. My abs clenched down hard as I came, almost completely still. I was getting so much better at my control. I continued licking the cup, turning it inside out so I could lick it clean. I tossed the empty dry thing on the bed then, letting my head fall back.

_Baby, are you okay?_

I groaned. I pushed one palm against my raging cock and flexed my hips slightly and let the other hand play with my nipple on that side, my fingernails pinching it, reminding me of Bella's teeth. My groan was a sustained thing, long and low, but it turned into a growl when I felt Bella's tongue – oh, god – Bella's teeth on the other nipple.

_Oh, baby, you are like sex on a stick. Are you… are you really coming, baby? _She tentatively put her hand over my jerking cock and the seeping stain on the denim. Incapable as I was of words, I thrust into her hand with a snarl. _Next time don't waste it, baby._ She shifted, and her lips were clasped over my neck now, down by the base, by my shoulder. She raked her teeth and her tongue as she sucked. _I want it next time._

I gasped when I was finished, and held her close to me.

"Now you're all sticky. I should probably, you know, clean you off. We wouldn't want you to be… _messy."_

"No," I gasped. "We wouldn't want that."

She tugged and pulled my jeans until she got them and my boxer briefs down to my ankles, which I then kicked off along with my socks. She was on all fours cleaning my abdomen as I stood there. She licked me clean much as I had done with the all but forgotten silicon cup that had rolled off the bed.

_Now how can we do this so it's a win-win situation? _It was a question, but she answered it herself, in her own imagination. We were in the middle of the bed, each on our sides, each with our head in the opposite direction, each with our legs slightly bent at the knees. She had her mouth at my cock, licking with tiny licks, just the tip of her tongue to the tip of my cock, her head propped up by her hand. I, on the other hand, had my bottom hand underneath her, gripping her hip, and my top arm over her, my elbow at her hip, my hand on the back of her other thigh, my head firmly and securely buried between her thighs.

And that was the position that we more or less assumed. I added two pillows underneath her head so she would be comfortable, for I intended not to move for the next two or three hours. I came nine times that afternoon – including the first, alone, in my jeans, and the last, inside Bella in the shower. And never, might I add, had I wanted to be able to lick my own cock before _that_ moment. Alas. Bella reached orgasm four times. Part way through the afternoon I checked to make sure that it wasn't all too much for her – not too much cunnilingus, not too much fellatio. She told me to stop being stupid and to get back to business. That was the last time I would dare to ask all that week. I could trust from then on out, that if there was something Bella didn't want to do, Bella wouldn't do it. I knew when not to look a gift horse in the mouth – or in this case…

Nevermind.

I was watching The Food Network with Emmett that evening after homework was finished, trying to get the hang of this cooking thing, but I was also half listening to Bella, out in the garage, talking with Rosalie. Rosalie had managed to get the werewolf's master cylinder, and Bella wanted to thank her, and since Rosalie was thoroughly entrenched in the garage this evening, to the garage Bella went.

I, for my part, was watching as Rachel Ray claimed that this was a dead easy meal you could make in thirty minutes that would taste better than anything similar that could be bought in a restaurant, but she kept on saying things like, 'cook the broccoli till you can start to smell it – you know, that smell where it's perfectly done?'

Totally unhelpful.

I was surprised when Rosalie not only answered Bella's presence with something like grace, but also engaged her conversation, putting aside her attention to her task to do so.

"Bella, I think you and I need to have a talk, because I'm fairly certain that Edward's not going to do it right," I heard Rosalie say, and suddenly I didn't care at all about the relative doneness and smell of broccoli.

"Uh, okay."

"It's pretty clear you're not used to having money yourself, or money spent on you, and it's freaking you out that Edward wants to lavish you with more or less anything that catches your eye."

"Plus everything else that doesn't catch my eye, plus things he wants me to buy for him with his own money."

"Exactly. And, okay. He's Edward. He can go overboard sometimes, but you're not helping. His desire to buy you things – an engagement ring, for instance – is utterly normal and acceptable," Rosalie stated, and I wondered how big a favor in return I might owe her at this point. This was above and beyond. A Tesla, perhaps?

"How did you… Um… But I could never… I mean. He wants to give me so much and I have nothing to give in return," she whispered. "I mean, nothing like that." I knew she meant that her blood was the only thing she could really give me, tangibly. Our relationship _was_ unequal, and would be so long as she was human, but clearly the inequality that mattered so much to me wasn't the same inequality that mattered to her. It hurt, somehow, knowing that we were utterly on different pages in this respect.

"You're still thinking from the wrong direction. Look. We're a family. Yes, you are a part of this family, too, whether or not you enjoy that idea, whether or not you marry sooner or later or not at all. The moment you and Edward fell in love, I got a new sister, Carlisle a new daughter. We're a family, okay? We take care of one another. We meet each other's needs in the way that brings us the most joy. It's just what we do."

"What do you mean?" Bella asked.

"You want to talk money, let's talk money. Carlisle is the only one who draws a salary, but he only does that because it kills him when he can't heal people, and the best way for him to do that is to be a licensed medical professional. And every twenty-five years he has to go back to school, start over, partially to keep up to date with the latest medical practices, partially because he has a cover to maintain, and you can't fake a medical license these days. That is the sacrifice that Carlisle pays – going through ten years of tedious, largely unnecessary training, every generation or so – because it means that he gets to do what he loves.

"But you know, Carlisle gets the check, hands it over to Edward, and then never thinks about it again. Edward and Alice deal with the finances. They're the ones who make our money, and they're very, very good at it. Jasper takes care of our identities. I take care of the cars. Alice shops. Esme takes care of creating, maintaining, and rehabilitating our housing. We have a lot of houses. But the only reason we do it is because we love it, and we make whatever sacrifices we must to be able to live our lives, together most of the time and reasonably happy.

"So think of it this way. Alice and Esme are neck and neck for spending the most money, but Esme brings in absolutely no money at all. Does anyone begrudge her of that? Because she has an expensive hobby, that just so happens to benefit all of us? And what of Alice's hobby? We don't need to dress they way we do, and we could certainly wear our clothes more than once or twice, but we don't begrudge Alice her fun because we have the resources. Edward has a rather expensive habit of collecting cars, and our fleet turns over every five years. In the same sense that all of our clothes really belong to Alice, because she chooses all of them, all of our cars are really Edward's, because he's chosen them. But that's not how we look at it. It's the family's money, spent on the family. And the fact that Edward has two cars and Jasper none doesn't bother anyone, because the minute Jasper decides he actually wants his own car, he'll have one.

"What does Emmett do?"

"He makes me happy," Rosalie laughed. "He's a fighter, as is Jasper, and that's something that Carlisle and Esme aren't, Esme especially. Carlisle wouldn't fight, but Esme's just not capable. Alice and I are fair, and Edward better than us and at least as good as Jazz and Em when you figure in the fact that he can read his opponent's mind, but Emmett's stronger than anything. And Jazz… well, he's the original American Badass. Ask him about it sometime. But Jasper and Emmett provide us with physical protection, if we ever needed it, with Alice and Edward as our… early warning system."

"Have you ever needed it?"

"No. We're a fairly large coven, and very strongly attached to one another. Edward is constantly on the lookout for danger in the mind of others around us, and Alice is constantly scanning the future. And should it come to that, Jasper can calm almost any situation down. We have some cousins up in Alaska who would also come to our aide, if it ever came to it, but there aren't many things out there that _could_ hurt us, that would actually want – or be stupid enough – to pick a fight with us. But still. Stupidity does reign supreme in this world. Of this we have daily evidence."

"What about me? What am I going to do?"

"Love Edward. And let him love you. Then give yourself forty or fifty years to figure out what you actually enjoy doing, aside from my brother."

"Rose!" gasped Bella, sounding slightly shocked that she would mention our intimate life in so off handed a manner.

"Come on, we all know what's going on. Hand me that wrench, will you? And it should be obvious to you that we couldn't be happier for the both of you. Don't you get it yet? So long as Edward didn't have a mate, our family wasn't complete. Eighty-seven years, Bella, and his brooding only got more melancholy. Trust me, we're happy that the two of you met."

"So, are you going to pull your head out of your ass and accept the damn engagement ring, or am I going to have to resort to extortion?" Rosalie asked.

"You wouldn't," Bella said. I could tell she was teetering on the edge of yes, and yet totally intrigued by Rosalie's methods, which she found absolutely outlandish.

"Try me."

"Just out of curiosity, what would you do?"

"Crush your truck into a little ball and give it to Edward as a present. He's been dying to buy you a new car since he first saw this one."

"You have a seriously wide mean streak, Rosalie," Bella said, more than slightly horrified.

"This is me being nice, Bella. And sweet. Maybe Esme could create a little memorial garden around it, you know, like outdoor sculpture? A monument to Bella learning to accept the generosity of the people who love her, but the hard way. You could come back in seventy years and laugh. So, what's it going to be? Engagement ring or garden sculpture?"

"You might have made an extremely small point, Rosalie. I'll take it under consideration."

"Knew you'd see reason. Now scram. I'll put the master cylinder in Edward's car. Yes, Edward dear," she said to me, "it will be in a box. Seriously, Bells, get out. I'm sure Romeo has angsted over the phrase 'season to taste' for long enough. Go rescue him from himself, would you?"

Bella was almost out of the garage when I heard her turn back. "Thanks, Rosalie," she whispered.

"You're welcome, sister mine," Rosalie replied on a sigh.

A Tesla, definitely.

The days between Rosalie's conversation on Thursday and the Spring Dance on Saturday… did not slip by. They never do. Each moment was accounted for, but the number of orgasms Bella and I were racking up seemed somewhat obscene, just in the period of her menstruation alone. I was certain that this part of our relationship at least, in no way resembled a normal human sexual relationship, even at its most virile. The worst part was my utter lack of control around Bella when she was like this, menstruating. She wasn't in heat, of course, but to the vampire in me, it _felt_ like she was. I was convinced that I'd found Bella utterly irresistible before, but it was closer to truth now than ever. I was embarrassed by how much I needed her, how _often_ I needed her, how _utterly unyielding_ my need for her really and truly was…

Friday, for instance, I waited for Bella outside of her Spanish class ready to escort her to lunch, just as I had for the last four weeks. And yet, the moment her hand touched mine, I was _overwhelmed_ by need. Without thinking I pulled her out of the stream of people very discretely and made like we were stopping at our lockers, first, which happened to be in the other direction. I bent down to whisper in her ear once we rounded the corner and had a bit of privacy. "Bella, I'm so sorry." I was panting. "Skip lunch with me? Please?"

She was naturally acquiescent, but confused. _What's wrong, baby? I mean, sure, whatever you need, but… what's going on?_

I pulled her past the lockers and we walked steadily toward the finger of the forest that jutted out and nearly touched the back of the student parking lot. I had an arm around her waist as we walked quickly. She tripped on the flat surface of the pavement only once.

I was so ashamed that I was doing this. That I couldn't seem to make it through the day… I needed to be better. I had to be better. It was wrong of me to ask Bella to do this, and yet, I strongly suspected – and it turned out I was right – that she wouldn't say no, and so weak that I was, I gave in and asked. I would have begged. I would have promised her anything, and kept my promise.

"Edward, please tell me what's going on," she asked quietly, calmly, as we made our way across the lot.

I was ashamed, but I knew she didn't like not knowing what was happening. I closed my eyes tight and whispered my shame. "I need you so badly, Bella."

_Is __**that**__ all?_ There was mirth in her tone. _Aw, baby, you know I'm up for it. _Then she had the audacity to giggle. _It's kinda funny how much you dig the blood._

"In what world is it funny?" I managed to grind out between my teeth.

_In my world. The world where the frumpy, quiet, clumsy girl gets the most beautiful, interesting, charming, and talented boy on earth. That world._

"God, Bella, how do you put up with me?" I asked, my self-loathing fighting my libido and for the moment, winning.

She continued to laugh. "I manage, somehow." _The sex helps. The fact that you let me run roughshod over you without complaint also helps._

I snorted in disbelief. "Roughshod? How do you figure that?" We were still walking carefully but with great intent across the parking lot.

_Well, we're always doing what I want to do. We only ever go so far as I want us to go. And even when it comes to sex, I come up with all this weird random shit, and you're always okay with it. And you never seem to mind, I mean, inside the bedroom and out._

And we were about to experience outside of the bedroom, indeed, though that wasn't quite what she meant, I realized. Still. "That's not running over me roughshod, love. Don't you get it?" I asked her as we reached the forest, finally. A little further in, just in case. "I'm desperate to spend time with you, and I'll take it whatever way I can." I shoved her pack off her shoulder and dropped my books on the ground. I pulled her to me and kissed her, hard. She shrugged her jacket off and I had her jeans undone and shoved partway down her thighs before she could shuck her shirt. Without any preliminaries at all I reached down and inside of her to gently pull out the silicon cup, officially my favorite invention since the internal combustion engine.

"Wait," she said, putting one hand on my arm as I was raising the cup to my lips. _Don't you dare start without me. Besides, you don't seriously want to come in your pants, do you?_

I didn't want Bella to get dirty or scraped up on the ground, but she pulled her jeans back up and knelt on her fallen jacket before she unbuckled and unfastened my own trousers, pushing them and my boxer briefs just past my hips. _Okay. Ready now,_ she said, her hand gently rubbing against my rock hard length just before she slipped the tip of me into her mouth.

I came deliciously hard as I drank down the savory tang of her blood. I licked the cup dry before shoving it in my pocket, and licked my fingers for good measure, and I reveled in the light suction created by Bella swallowing me down as I came on her tongue. I gently held her head to me, my fingers in her hair.

_Mmm… still as tasty as the first time. You know, I don't love the outdoors, but I do love sucking you off in the great outdoors. Go figure. Hmm. My still Adonis. You know, you're like a still life, except for the ejaculation part. The two of us together like this maybe, though, that could be a convincing still life. What would we call that? The Blowjob? The Lovers? Lunchtime? You are a tasty treat, baby, and you get a snack, too. Though I'm sure your snack will have a higher nutritional content than mine, no offence, baby. Hmm. Maybe A Young Adonis. Adonis Preconfigured. Adonis and Lover._

I was used to Bella's strange commentary as she gave me fellatio, but I had to register my opinion on the last one. "Adonis and _Mate,_" I growled out.

_Ooo, the statue speaks. I stand corrected. Or, would it be I kneel corrected? I suck cock, corrected? Hmm._

She released me as I finished, and I pulled her to her feet. I buried my face in her neck, breathing in deeply of her subtle and luscious fragrance as I licked and kissed the skin I found there.

"How are we going to do this, baby?" she asked, and I heard the smile in her voice. She was imagining a sixty-nine position on the forest floor, but she wasn't too keen on the idea, and frankly, neither was I.

"We'll take your jeans off, and your boots, and you can keep your socks on, love," I said, smiling against her neck. "Put your jacket on, and you'll lean against a tree. I'll kneel in front of you, and you can put your legs over my shoulders. I'll hold you up."

"But that means… I won't be able…" _to suck you off, baby._

"I'll survive," pointed out, removing myself from her embrace to kneel down at her feet to untie her boots. She picked up her jacket and shook it out before putting it back on again.

"I wasn't doing it for you, baby." I gave her a look. "Okay, there is a mutual enjoyment factor. It's just not fair, that's all," she said, ending on a whine. She might have stamped her foot, except that I was helping her out of the boots. I laughed.

"What are _you_ laughing about? I don't think you _get_ to laugh about this situation. No laughing allowed." She hopped about on one foot and nearly fell over, but I steadied her, and still kneeling, starting pushing her jeans and underwear down her legs. I picked her up and carried her to the nearest tree where I knelt down once more and then hoisted her up easily, letting her lean against the tree as she rested first one leg, then the other over my shoulders. Kissing the inside of her thigh, I tried to explain myself.

"I am laughing," I said, in between kisses, "because I think I must be the luckiest man in the world."

And really, I was.

Rosalie met us outside of Biology II with an apple in her hand. She handed it to Bella and smirked as Bella blushed.

"Garden sculpture," she said, apropos of nothing. "The clock is ticking." And then she turned on her heel and strode away. Bella inhaled the apple before class, and once we sat down, I threw away the core, a rimshot in the garbage can behind me, without looking. No one saw.

Bella wasn't the only one who hated gym.

Saturday was the Spring Dance, and I didn't think Bella could have looked lovelier, even at the start. I drove Rosalie and Alice over earlier in the afternoon so they could get ready with Bella at a leisurely pace, though to gauge from Charlie's reaction to the amount of equipment and bags they brought with them, he assumed the Cullen Siege was beginning. Little did he know it started four weeks ago. Knowing that this might be a little much for him, I'd brought the raw materials to practice some appetizers that I'd been reading about. Really, the study of childcare could wait a bit – there were so many cookbooks out there. The world was my oyster, and Emmett my sous chef.

Literally.

It greased the way with Charlie as I kept him supplied with munchies and beer as he retreated to a game on the TV, and it kept Bella just this side of manageable. Alice and Rosalie didn't want to let me in her room at first when I went to go deliver round one, though Charlie thought nothing of it, knowing both my sisters were upstairs with her.

Alice's thoughts on the subject were quite clear. _Edward, if you're just going to come up here to kick us out and have your own little feast with Bella, we're __**not**__ interested. We've got work to do. I respect that you are newly mated, and I respect that you've got a unique opportunity that you'd be an idiot to let pass you by, with her menstruating, but dammit, Edward, __**we're busy! **__And we've got limited time! You have no __**concept**__ how long it took to dry her hair!_

When I pointed out in a loud voice that a hungry Bella was a cranky Bella, Alice finally saw reason and let me in.

"How's the pie crust?" I asked, slipping into her mind and exercising admirable restraint as she sat nestled in my lap. I was quite proud of myself, actually. After yesterday's utter embarrassment at lunch, here I was, being good, restraining myself from even thinking about eating her out, even though it had been nine hours since I last tasted her.

While Bella sat on my lap, Alice was trying to curl her hair and Rosalie was giving her a pedicure. Bella munched on the miniature four cheese quiche I had gently placed on her tongue.

"Mmm," was the only thing I got out of her until she was finished with her mouthful. "Buttery. Flaky. You made it from scratch, baby?" she asked, murmuring quietly to me. _There is officially now nothing that I do better than you._

I growled without realizing it. Both of my sisters stopped and looked at me, Alice standing behind us and Rosalie sitting at Bella's feet. Still, I had eyes for no one but Bella. "That's not true," I said softly. "I'll tell you about it sometime. But please don't think that's true," I said, one hand cupping her face just before I kissed her lips ever so gently, ever so briefly. "Come on, now," I said, lightening my tone. "If they're not revolting, then you need to eat more than one. No fainting."

She grinned briefly, and my sisters resumed their work. I resumed feeding Bella with my fingers and decided right there and then that I liked finger food better than anything else I could possibly think to learn to cook. Appetizers forever. Long live Tapas. She ate all the way through them, to the very last one on the plate, announcing that she was stuffed now. Rosalie noted that she had enough room left for the crumbs on my fingers, but neither of us paid much attention to Rosalie.

I went to go prepare round two and an hour later, after Charlie obeyed the instructions to 'eat them while they're hot' and proclaimed them the best thing he'd _ever_ tasted, we went through the endeavor again, this time they were trying to do her make up, so they simply had to pause and do their own preparations as I curled up with Bella on her bed, heeding the warnings of painful dismemberment should I disturb her gorgeous hair. I slipped back into her mind and I fed her a warmed concoction called 'Upside Down French Onion Soup'. Per usual, I found the smell off putting, but Bella informed me it tasted just like the real thing, and what's more she felt the need to clean my fingers between each mouthful. It wasn't strictly necessary, as each bite was self-contained within a light puff pastry shell, but I didn't complain. Still, it was good I had an apron on.

I cleaned the kitchen and left to go get ready myself. When I returned with Jasper and Emmett in tow, each of us with a flower in our hands, it was almost too much, the three of us in the little living room with Charlie. Or it would have been, if the three of us hadn't immediately sat down and started cheering on the current sports event. Emmett and Charlie started debating the merits of the teams they were supporting – opposite one another, of course, and by the time that happened, Charlie was sufficiently at ease.

We weren't in tuxedos, as the dance was only semi-formal, but we each wore a black suit, a black shirt, and a tie the precise color of our mate's dress. Thank you, Alice. Per Alice's directions, none of us had done up the top button in our shirts, and yet had secured the Windsor knot of our ties fairly snuggly over it. She claimed it was the way it was done. Jasper and I both felt silly and unkempt, but we didn't dare brave her displeasure. Jasper wouldn't think of it, and I decided the effort wasn't worth the annoyance I would reap later on. Besides, Alice was being so helpful for Bella and I, I hated to be uncooperative.

In the midst of one particularly rowdy exultation of team fervor in the living room a throat cleared behind us. We all turned to see Rosalie in the doorway, an eyebrow raised.

"Shall we, gentlemen?"

Emmett pinned the corsage effortlessly to the exact place Rosalie indicated on her cherry red dress, kissed her hand, and escorted her out of the house. "Later, Charlie!" he called out behind him as he took Rosalie to her car.

Alice was next in the doorway, looking beautiful in green. Jasper rose to greet her, kissing her hand before slipping a wrist corsage on. Before they turned to go, both of them said their goodbyes to Charlie.

And then Bella was in the doorway. She was stunning. I had seen her transformation in stages, and I always found her to be beautiful, but tonight all of the little rough spots were smoothed over. Her eyes were bright and her lips were a deep, lovely, natural pink, the same color they got when we kissed for any length of time. Her thick, dark brown hair hung in large, tousled, shiny, sexy ringlets that I was both dying to and forbidden from running my fingers through until the end of the night. She wore no perfume, as she needed none. Her own scent was delicious and not to be tampered with, as it was impossible to improve upon. She wore little kitten heels in an open toed sling back that showed a little glimpse of her delightful toes, painted and polished in a pale pink. Her fingers, I knew, had only a coat of clear polish on them. But her dress, her deep blue dress that showed off her slim waist and the curve of her hips, the dress that draped intimately but modestly around her pert, beautiful breasts, and that plunged deeply in the back, exposing her flawless skin in the most delectable manner, the dress I had only heard of, and never seen on her… it was beautiful. She was beautiful in it. I tried hard not to think of her being beautiful out of it.

"You look great, Bells," Charlie said. I waited as he walked around the couch to kiss her forehead. "You two have a good time," he said, and then stepped back. I took Bella's hand and kissed it, and then secured Bella's flower, already wired to a hair comb, in her hair just as Alice had instructed.

Charlie walked us to the door. On instinct, I kept between Bella's bare back and Charlie's gaze. And then he saw the car.

"Whoh! Is that what you're driving, Edward?" _Is that the Aston Martin __I've heard about?_ Most of the time Charlie was even harder to hear than his daughter, but _that_ thought came through loud and clear.

"Yes. It's Carlisle's, but I'm his favorite," I said with a smile. "He lets me borrow it whenever I like, but I don't like to draw undo attention. Unless, you know, it's a special occasion."

"Which the Spring Dance obviously is," Charlie remarked, still stunned.

"See you later, Charlie," I said, storing away his reaction to the Vanquish for later use.

"Bye Dad. Don't wait up."

Charlie snorted, but waved all the same. Me, I sunk into Bella's mind for the first time since I'd left the house to get ready. I couldn't repress the shiver that ran up my spine.

The dance was held in the Gymnasium, vaguely decorated for the occasion. I hadn't gone to last year's Spring Dance, or any of the proms that had occurred while we were here at Forks – or, for that matter, any of the many high school dances that I'd had the opportunity to attend throughout my long and varied career as a high school student – but this was exactly what I had expected, cobbled together from the unavoidable replay of people's memories.

_Baby, I'm not sure about this dancing thing. Surely you've picked up by now that I really don't have the coordination that most people were born with._

"Humor me?"

_Up to a point._

"Good enough for me."

She danced one dance with me, standing on my toes, and we waltzed around the room.

_I feel like I'm flying. But I look like an idiot._

"No, you don't. You look beautiful. And you are," I pointed out. After the one dance was over, she drew the line.

I bargained.

"What about slow dances? It's really just an excuse to hold you close in public, while swaying back and forth, minimally."

"You hold me close in public all the time," she said, taking a sip of the cup of punch I'd retrieved for her.

"Not really," I pointed out. "Not anymore."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "I'll try it. Once. We'll see."

That's it. I was teaching her to dance, starting next week. She'd be able to pick it up eventually. We wouldn't start with the tango, but if ten year olds in Brooklyn could master ballroom dancing in one semester, so could Bella. If I was lucky maybe we'd make it to the bump and grind. Then again, we could just have sex afterwards. Same effect, better orgasm.

***  
End Chapter 10

**End Note: ** Hey, y'all. I've just discovered that Stratan has started a thread over in the AU section of the twilighted forums (twilighted dot net) for the discussion of this fic. I'll be posting teasers for upcoming chapters on it, as well as happily participating in whatever discussion there might be, so do go check it out. You know I love hearing from you. And… review? Green button goodness? Please? Thanks, you rock. (Don't forget to answer my query about crudeness from the author's note... inquiring minds want to know... gracias.)  
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	21. Bonfire of the Vampires

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Beta**: Colleen P, with much gratitude, because she's got the patience of a saint. And the snarkiness of Professor Snape…  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

**Summary**: The day Edward finds his mate, his world grinds to a halt and starts spinning the other way 'round. Vampires mate for life, you know, and it's instantaneous, irrevocable, and irreversible. This is that story.

**Author's Note**: Yea. I wrote this chapter over a month ago. I've altered it slightly to preserve continuity, but not much. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! See you over on twilighted dot net on the AU discussion board!

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Chapter 11: Bonfire of the Vampires, complete in one part  
***

The morning had been spent in the most delightful manner possible. After several hours hiking, we lounged in the meadow where I read Bella the better portion of 'Much Ado About Nothing' and fed her strawberries. She had initially been less than pleased with my choice of plays, but I informed her categorically that I was sick of tragedies and since she hadn't specified, I took the liberty of choosing for myself. I had brought something slightly more substantial for her lunch and ended up feeding that to her as well, bite by bite as she lay with her head on my stomach while still I read.

We lay together in silence after the abridged reading of the comedy until Bella sat astride my hips, deciding that she was hungry for something else, entirely. We took our time, laboring under the assumption that we had all day to celebrate what Charlie termed the Shakespeare and Strawberry Festival, my gift to Bella for agreeing to ask me to the Spring Dance. This proved to be true until I heard the electronic tone change on cell phone, located an arms length away in the pocket of my discarded jeans.

Loathe though I was to answer, answer I did, and Bella and I happily changed our plans for the afternoon. There would be a thunderstorm in town, which meant we could play baseball.

I forewent the several hour hike back and opted instead for a three minute run, which as it turned out, Bella disliked immensely. As she had no coherent thoughts on the subject, however, I was inclined to believe she was being just slightly over dramatic. Humans tended to over dramatize those things that were unfamiliar to them, and I was certain that was the case this time.

I dropped Bella off at home so she could do a few things and returned home myself. I needed to switch cars and repack what I was quickly beginning to think of as Bella's Supply Pack. It always had a bottle of water, an energy bar, and a first aid kit in it, but I made some hot chocolate as well and put it in a vacuum sealed thermos, along with a very light supper. Bella, I have learned, does not eat much. I was back to her house within thirty minutes. I noticed Charlie's cruiser parked out front – it hadn't been there when I had dropped Bella off.

Bella's father greeted me warmly at the door. Ever since the accident with Bella's truck he had been very accepting of my presence in his daughter's life, and as of yesterday and my constant production of tasty, munchable food while his house was invaded by my sisters bent on fashion, my persona had expanded in his mind from accidental hero to domestic god. I was okay with it. In fact, I was willing to work this angle as far as I possibly could.

"Bella, Edward's here," he called out.

"Be down in just a minute!" she called back from her room.

We stood in the hallway, but I took the opportunity open to me.

"Charlie," I started hesitantly. "I'm learning how to cook, as you can tell from last night. My family and I, we're all on special diets, but I want to learn how to cook normally, for Bella. And my family… just finds me amusing. They're being pretty unhelpful, most of them. I don't suppose you'd let me come over here and practice for you two, do you?"

Charlie looked immediately intrigued, and shrugged. "What kind of special diet?"

"Oh, we're allergic to almost everything. Gluten, lactose, soy." I shrugged. "It rules out most everything you can buy prepared at the grocery store, or that the average person might bake or cook." I shrugged again. "We get by, we don't starve, but I want to be able to cook for Bella. I've been practicing at home, but no one can eat it and tell me if it's decent or not."

"So you need a guinea pig."

"Yeah, pretty much," I said, working to modulate my speech to mimic that of a contemporary seventeen year old. It's an effort I rarely made.

Charlie crossed his arms over his chest. "Okay," he said. "I'm game. Pick a day with Bella and knock yourself out. She actually admitted that she had fun at the dance last night, by the way. Said she felt bad about holding you to the Shakespeare and Strawberry Festival this morning. I noticed that she didn't feel bad enough to tell you that you didn't have to come over."

I grinned at that. I really did like Charlie Swan. It was so clear to me where Bella got her sense of humor.

"It was worth it," I said, still smiling.

"So, where'd you find the strawberries?"

"Seattle."

Charlie gave me a look. "You drove to Seattle to find strawberries for my daughter?"

I grinned again and nodded.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. _Young love__. _It was a strong thought that came through loud and clear, unlike the rest of his mental chatter that I could barely even discern the tone of, even standing right in front of him.

"So, how did you manage to convince Bella to play baseball with you and your family? She's never been a real big… _fan_… of sports."

I smiled and shrugged. "I just asked. It's likely that Bella will be umpire, with my mom catching, and helping her out."

"Do you actually _need_ an umpire?"

I affixed the most innocent look on my face and turned to answer him. "For some strange reason, my mother thinks we cheat. I have no idea where she gets that notion, of course."

It made Charlie laugh. "'Course not."

Bella came down the stairs, then, looking as radiant as usual. I wasn't in her mind at all, just skating on the surface, as I might be with anyone. It had been important to me to be able to hear her father as much as possible, and he was much more difficult to make out than she was. Even partially in Bella's mind, I wouldn't have been able to hear Charlie at all. And so, outside of the haven that was my Bella, I heard him when he caught the radiant look on her face that she was wearing to go play _baseball_.

_Well, shit. First dancing, now baseball. And he reads her Shakespeare, voluntarily. She must really __**love**__ this boy. Well, he's a good boy from a good family. Seems pretty… stable. She could do worse. I bet if they end up in the same college town they'll get married, sooner or later. Wonder if he wants to be a doctor like his father, or an architect like his mom. Or anything, I guess. I've heard all the Cullen kids have real good grades, and obviously enough money for them to study whatever they like. Ah, well. Time will tell._

"Bye, Dad," she said, nodding at him as we walked out the door together. The moment we were outside of the house I sank into her mind with a sigh of relief.

She looked up from the porch. _Oh, hello_. "We're taking Emmett's Jeep today?"

"Most of the way."

She looked at me warily. _What do you mean, most of the way?_

I opened the door for her and watched as she blanched at the seatbelt restraint system that was in Emmett's all-terrain Jeep. I helped her up into the seat and watched for a moment as she puzzled over what buckle went where. I pulled the shoulder harness around her and snapped everything together before closing the door.

"What do you mean, we're only taking the car _most_ of the way?" she asked, her voice lined with suspicion.

"There are no roads to the field where we play baseball, Bella. I thought you might be more comfortable if we drove as far as we could, though."

"You were right," she said, bleakly. _There goes the fun for the afternoon._

I knew she'd been a little overwhelmed by it earlier today on the way back from the meadow, but I'd taken all the precautions Carlisle had mentioned – slow starts, slow stops, no sudden changes in direction. Certainly she was a little shaken afterwards, and she had some difficulty getting off my back, but that was just because she was not the most graceful of God's creatures. I didn't understand why she had such a horrendous response to it now, for certainly if her thoughts and her body language were anything to go by, her emotions were in significant turmoil.

"What bothers you about it?" I asked gently. I was looking forward to her uncensored response – it would give me some kind of clue as to whether or not I'd actually be joining my family for baseball this afternoon.

_The fact that at any moment we could smack into any one of the trees that are whipping by and while it wouldn't so much as bruise you, I'd be a little bloody smear in the forest._

Huh. Fear of death. Okay. "Anything else?"

_Why yes, since you asked. It's also a little like trying to hold onto the wing of a 747, mid-flight. It's… not a pleasant sensation._

Huh. Maybe she hadn't been simply clumsy afterwards. I quickly calculated the gravitational forces she would have endured and suddenly didn't wonder that her muscles had been frozen in place earlier, when she'd tried to get off my back. Well, shit. I was officially both insensitive and an imbecile. "Anything else?"

_You mean besides the very real fear of dying, and the physical shock of trying to hold despite the g-forces? Yea. Motion sickness._

Huh. Motion sickness, on top of everything else. It's a wonder she's still speaking to me. "Is that all?"

"That about sums it up."

I thought for a moment before responding.

"So, it strikes me that there are a few things that it would be helpful if you understood – about me and running."

_Knock yourself out._

"Should I even bother, Bella? If you're not going to listen with an open mind, then there's really not much point in me saying anything." It really bothered me when she got like this. I was trying to explain something about our differences so she could make an informed decision and she was cutting me down before I could even start.

"I'm sorry," she said, her tone contrite. "Go on."

"Thank you." I took a deep breath to clear the air in my head. "When you run with me, we go so fast that things are just a blur for you. If you were going that fast on your own, you wouldn't be able to navigate safely. It's understandable that the experience would be disconcerting. But Bella, I can run even faster than that, and even as fast as I can go, I can see each individual tree as we come upon it, and pass it. I can smell – and place by smell – the location and type of every living creature we pass."

_Even the worms?_

I smiled ruefully. "I am aware that there are worms, but generally I don't pay much attention to them, I will admit. But everything larger than a squirrel makes it on my radar. I can hear humans and vampires up to five miles away, with the exception of you, and when I'm not deep in your mind. And I can smell them a mile away or more, when the wind is right. My eyes, they can take in more information than yours can, and my brain can process it faster.

"All this is to say that there is no way in heaven or on earth that I could actually run into a _tree_ while running. I could probably navigate with my eyes closed, though I've never tried.

"Now, about being tied to a commercial airliner…" I trailed off, because it was quite an apt point. I probably run slower than that with Bella, but not much. I hadn't before thought about what it would cost human muscles to try to _hold on_ to something going that fast. "You have a point. I'm sorry. I should have thought about that. I'll carry you from now on. You won't have to worry about it.

"And the motion sickness. What makes it so bad?" I asked.

She thought about that for a moment, and I saw a memory of what it looked like when we ran together, from her perspective. No wonder she was frightened. It looked positively dizzying.

_Seeing it happen, I think. I mean, it's not like it's a bumpy ride, or anything._

"So if _you_ close your eyes while _I_ hold you tight, will you trust me not to run into a tree that I can see coming, as clearly as if I were walking past it?"

_Only if you promise not to trip over any squirrels._

"I swear to you, Bella, I won't trip over any squirrels."

"Okay. I'm still nervous, and I don't love the idea, but okay."

"Thank you, Bella."

We drove along the highway as far as we could, and quickly after that we were off the road completely. The ride was not smooth.

_Oh my gosh, I see why I'd need a harness. But why does Emmett have them? Take many humans on joyrides, do you?_

I laughed.

"It's all part of the charade. We have a room full of camping equipment, too, that we've mostly never used."

_And a kitchen._

"Hey!" I protested with a grin. "We're using that now."

_Yea, a salad is so complex._

"There's a knife, a cutting board and several bowls involved. Plus a fork."

She laughed, and it was good to hear the sound.

"So it seems like Charlie is starting to accept that you might be serious about me. Think he might be okay letting you come camping with us?"

_Ooo, you mean the Cullen Family Camping trips, where your entire family goes hunting and you and I stay the weekend at your house__? I'll start working on him as soon as I get back. He may want to talk to Carlisle about it, though._

"I'll be sure that Carlisle is up to date.

"Have you though about what college you want to go to?" I asked.

_I thought we agreed that you were going to change me after graduation? _

"Yes, that's still the plan, but everyone else will think that you're going to college. So you need to apply and be accepted. We can do a deferment for you later, if you decide you'd like to matriculate sooner rather than later – though eventually you, too, will rack up the degrees."

_How many do you have?_

"Including undergraduate? Fourteen, though four of the undergraduate degrees I got for Carlisle, so he could skip that and go straight back to med school. But don't get sidetracked. You need to have a cover, Bella. What school do you want to go to?"

_What school will give me a scholarship?_

"Bella, you don't need a scholarship. Whenever you end up attending a university, the family will pay. The family you're a part of will pay the cost. It's part of our cover."

_That seems weird._

"It is weird, but that's part of the package when you get changed as young as we all have. Esme's the only one who can pass for late thirties with any degree of success. The rest of us look every bit as young as we were when we died."

"You are _not_ dead! I _**hate**__**it**_ when you say that!" she exclaimed loudly, the first of her verbal outcries since we got in the car. It told me, if her tone wasn't indication enough, just how passionately she felt about the subject.

"Bella," I said as softly as I could and still be heard in the car. "My heart doesn't beat. I don't age. I don't eat. I don't sleep. I don't urinate, I don't defecate."

_You ejaculate, though, _she thought smugly.

"True," I said wryly. "But my point is, I'm not alive. I exist, but I'm not alive."

_Bullshit. _Bella rarely if ever swore out loud, but when angry or arroused she certainly didn't hold back in her head.

"It's not bullshit, love. It's biology."

_No, it's bullshit. And biology says it's bullshit. If, and I do mean if, Edward, I were fucking a corpse, I would not be worried about getting pregnant, okay? If you can create life with me, I've got news for you: You're Not Dead. So suck it up and find a new way of referring to that admittedly painful turning point in your life._

I was stunned. I'd never really thought about it like that, though the knowledge that I could actually still have the ability to procreate was a thought that hadn't lost its first sheen of newness.

Maybe… Maybe I wasn't dead. I tried to push it out of my mind. I would think of it later. I didn't want to go there right now.

"Okay," I said softly. Then I realized what she'd done. "You changed the subject again. What college? I was thinking Dartmouth. It's unlikely that you'll go, come to think of it. We'll probably want to spend the first couple of years, maybe the first decade to ourselves," I said, thinking of what Jasper had once said to me about his first decade with Alice. "But you'll still need to apply."

_What about you?_

"I've already been accepted."

_What? Where?_

"Dartmouth."

_Oh, I __**see**__._

"I'll get you an application."

_Oh, goody. What do I tell Charlie about paying for it?_

"Merit based scholarship. Tell him you applied to it through the school."

_You're quite good at this, aren't you?_

I shrugged. "We try to blend in. This is part of it."

It wasn't long before I pulled the Jeep up short. We had gone as far as we could in the vehicle, and we'd be running from here. I got out, grabbing the small daypack from the back seat as I went, around to open Bella's door long before she had extracted herself from the safety harness. I helped her out then handed her the small backpack.

"Ooo, it's heavier. What's in here?" she asked.

"A thermos of hot chocolate, a bottle of water, a sandwich, some handwarmers, and a first aid kit." There were a few other things, but not worth mentioning just at this point.

She smiled at me, then. "You know me well." She put the pack on over her jacket and I tightened the straps.

_I'm going to look like a dork._

"No, Bella. You really don't look like a dork. And I don't want it to move around and get in my way." I swept her up in my arms but I was still firmly in her mind, and so my throat did not burn. I wouldn't spend the entire afternoon here, but I wanted to be able to carry her in comfort.

"Put your arms around my neck, love, nice and tight." I held her closely, one arm around her back with my palm on her stomach, the other arm underneath her knees. But then I thought about it some more. I looked at her lower legs and realized that there would be nothing at all supporting them when they had to face ten minutes of 150 mile an hour winds.

"Let's try something different," I said, putting her back on the ground for a moment. "Okay, wrap your legs around my hips." She gave me an arch look, but when I gently placed one hand on her upper thigh and pulled up, she wrapped it around my hip. I scooped her up with one hand, but when I had her high enough so that I could actually run, I couldn't see. I set her back down. It would have to be the other way. Damn. I was still worried about her legs.

"No good?"

"I couldn't see," I explained.

I swept her up again, and she held on tight without any prompting, burying her face against my neck. "You're going to want to hold your legs in, nice and tight, love."

"You're not going to whack my feet into trees, are you?" Her voice was muffled against my throat, but I could still hear her quite clearly.

I smiled at her. "No, sweetheart. I just don't want the wind pressure to hurt you. Everything else is pretty well supported. You ready, eyes closed?"

"Just tell me when its over," came her muffled reply.

I chuckled at her, but not before I started running starting slowly and gaining speed. "I think we should visit your mom this summer," I said directly in her ear so the wind would not whip my words away.

_Oh, right. You in a southern state. That's going to go over well. What are you going to do, wear SPF 300, anti-sparkle cream?_

"You think I sparkle?" I asked, remembering our delightful afternoon in the meadow last week when it was so sunny.

_What else would you call that odd shimmery, diamond-facet rainbow thing your skin does in direct sunlight? You, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, sparkle. And even when you're not in the sun you're dazzling. But moving on. You really want to visit Renee? Why?_

"Because she's your mother, and I'd like to meet her."

_No ulterior motives?_

"Besides wanting to know your mother? No. None. Did I need one?"

_Not necessarily, but you're very good at being evasive, though I've noticed you seem to answer direct questions honestly._

I sighed. She was right, only I had no wish to be evasive with her, not anymore, not now that she knew and accepted all of the most fearsome parts of my existence. "I'm sorry, love. It's a habit. I don't mean to do it. I suppose it's been so long that I've had any kind of meaningful conversation with anyone outside of the six of them, that I forget how ingrained the habit really is."

_Have you __**ever**__ had a meaningful conversation with someone outside your family?_

It took me only a fraction of a moment to realize that I hadn't – even the Denalis, with whom we as a family were very close, I had never personally had any sort of meaningful interaction with any of them, despite Tanya's heroic efforts. I always kept myself to myself, my music and my journals, my close friendship with Carlisle and Alice. I was subjected to everyone's internal dialogue enough to know I didn't need to speak with them myself.

"I never have, if you count the fact that by the time _we_ actually spoke, you were already the center of my universe."

_Really? I mean, it was that quick for you, too?_

"If you'll recall, love, I proposed to you within forty-eight hours of first meeting you, and we were having sex within seventy-two. You think I'd do that on a whim? I don't go around proposing to every girl I meet."

_Well, that's a relief. And here I was thinking that we were together only because Jessica Stanley had dumped you._

"Dear God, what a horrifying thought. That viper? Her crush was horrendous. You have no idea what horrors I had to witness with her incessant daydreams."

Bella had the temerity to start giggling, which I thought was unfair.

"I was so tempted at the time to walk up to her and purposefully pull out the predator, just so I could watch the blood drain from her face as she realized how wrong she was."

_I would have paid to see that!_

"Yes, well. Alice tells me that when we first kissed in the cafeteria, Jessica was almost literally green with envy. Actually, I saw it in Alice's mind, in her memories. It was beautiful to behold. Shame you missed it, really."

_Oh, well, excuse me. I was distracted at just that moment by my tremendously beautiful boyfriend – my own personal Adonis, mind you – sticking his tongue down my throat. Call me crazy, but my mind was elsewhere._

"I suppose it's understandable. I myself was distracted at just that moment as well. But we can go visit your mom this summer?" I asked again.

_Sure__. I mean, it seems I'm going to have some time on my hands this summer, since I don't need to get a job to help pay for college. I don't suppose you know anyone who could help me spend all that extra time?_

I groaned. This afternoon was going to be much more difficult if I was half aroused, as didn't want to be inside Bella's head the entire time, delicious as it was. I wanted to be able to hear my family. I missed them, as strange as it seemed. I never thought I would, but I do.

"Don't start," I said. "I won't be so deep in your mind this afternoon, and I'd prefer to play baseball without wanting to cause you bodily harm."

_Okay, okay. I see your point. But do you see mine? I mean, I really don't know what your plans are for the summer. Maybe you're going to be going to some three month vampire conference in the Arctic, or something._

"Penguins," I said with distain.

_Polar bears_, she reminded me.

I laughed. "No three month vampire conferences, I promise. I will be around to amuse you all summer long."

_Well, that's alright, then._

"I'm glad you approve. And we're here," I said, coming to a very gentle halt still within the tree line to give her a semblance of privacy. I could hear my family, and I knew they could hear us. "How was the ride?"

She flexed her legs before I set her down. "Better. Doable."

"Not the ringing endorsement I'd hoped for, but I'll take it," I said, leaning down for a quick kiss. When I came back up again she smiled at me, and I took her hand and left her mindscape. It was still a little shocking to me how quiet she was when I wasn't buried within her. I could barely hear her above the welcome din of my family.

_Well it took him long enough. I wonder if he's still in his happy la-la Bella land. You with us, Romeo?_ Emmett asked.

_I wonder what is wrong with Bella_, Rosalie mused, obviously catching on to the gist of our conversation.

_Oh, good, they're here. I wonder if Bella already knows the rules of baseball. I'll have to fill her in on our version,_ Esme thought.

_Good. They're absolutely heading north now, leaving the area. No question about it,_ Alice was thinking, and obviously not about us. She must be monitoring the nomad coven that had been so foolishly hunting in our territory.

_It's so good to see them together. I wonder if he took my advice and brought a more significant first aid kit,_ Carlisle was thinking.

_What does Alice see?_ Jasper wanted to know.

We walked out of the forest hand in hand. It was so tempting to sink back into Bella's mind – I had walked into this clearing a hundred times to play baseball with my family on a stormy day, but I wanted to know what Bella thought of it, and it was almost impossible to hear her. Even though her palm was pressed into mine, it was like she was a hundred miles away. I couldn't have it both ways, though. At best, half in and half out of her mind I could, with very strict focus, listen to one person's thoughts if they were close, but that wasn't what I wanted just now.

I led Bella over to Esme and let the din of my family's familiar tones and cadences wash over my mind. It wasn't as if I never spent time with them, never heard them anymore, but the dynamic had changed when Bella had entered my life. This was the first time that we would all be together, having fun, that I wouldn't be totally immersed in Bella. When I had been with them all before, minus Bella, I was miserable. When we'd all been together, I'd always been so deep inside of Bella – partially because of the protection that it provided her, but if I'm honest, partially because I might be addicted to the sensation and the peace it brought me. Thus I had missed out, through my petulance and my choices, on really having any quality time with my family at all.

Besides, for Bella's own safety, I needed to keep on my toes, utterly out of her mind. Even though Alice saw that the nomads were definitely leaving, I know how quickly minds can and do change, and Bella could still be in danger. Given their relative size, probably not much danger – they would be insane to attack one of our number – but it was always possible. I almost didn't invite her out at all today, but the meadow was in the opposite direction and as for this afternoon… I wanted her to be a part of our family so much, and baseball was one of the things we all enjoyed together that didn't involve blood.

But still, there was one thing I needed to do before we began. I didn't only learn about Bella's utter distaste for clinging to my back this morning, on our return trip from our own private Shakespeare and Strawberries Festival we'd had in the meadow. Bella also told me that she would be willing to accept her ring.

Rosalie should receive shipment of the Tesla in three weeks, but Alice and I were keeping it a secret for now. It was possible we'd be getting rid of the M3 soon.

Without disturbing Bella, or even alerting her, I took the light blue ring box out of the pack she wore, and in an instant I had the attention of my entire family. Those who weren't close by nonchalantly strolled closer at a leisurely human pace. If Bella knew us better, she would have known that something was up, just with that gesture, but she didn't guess a thing. I slipped into her mind without even thinking about it.

_Esme is so nice. She's so with it, too. It's so cool that she's an architect and designer._

"Bella," I called to her softly, taking her hand once more in mine. By the time she turned around, I was on one knee and tugging her gently to join me, to perch on my leg. She did, and wrapped one arm around my neck, for safety and support, she mentally labeled it.

She raised an eyebrow at me and my antics. _When I said I'd wear your ring, Edward…_

But I cut her off. "Bella," I murmured softly. It was an intimate tone, and yet I knew everyone could hear us clearly. The stood around with smiles on their faces, watching us. "My love, my life, my mate. Will you marry me?"

I watched her purse her lips to keep herself from smiling. "You know the answer," she said. _So what's up with the show, huh? Oh, what the hell, you probably can't hear me anyway._

I waited. I could outlast her, I was certain. When I raised an eyebrow at her, she rolled her eyes and relented.

"Yes, I will marry you."

Alice squealed in happiness and Jasper hugged her to his side, grinning. When we both looked over at her, she just murmured her apologies and motioned for us to get on with it.

"Then you definitely need this," I said, pulling out the chain from my pocket and looping it over her head. It draped down her coat but when she checked it, the ring wasn't there. Of course it wasn't. She gave me a look, nonetheless.

_And the ring is…_

"Here," I said, exchanging the box from one hand to the other so it could actually be in the hand before her where she could see. It was the same closed box she had rejected before.

_Hold the bottom of the box, baby,_ she said, and I did. We each only had one hand free, but we worked together to reveal the ring. _It __**is**__ beautiful, Edward. _She held the back of the box and looked at the ring for a moment. _Take it out? Put it on me?_

I did so, but her left hand was wrapped around my neck. I gripped her waist tightly with my right hand and she very gingerly untwined herself from around me, but I wasn't letting go. She wasn't going anywhere. She presented her hand to me and I slipped the four and a half carat pear cut diamond onto her finger.

_Hmm. It sparkles. Like someone else I know. _"Thank you for the ring, Edward. It's really nice," she said before pressing her lips gently and sweetly against mine.

We had a round of applause and a few whoops, and then I slipped out of her mind and game got underway.

The game seemed to fly by, and we were all having so much fun. Everyone was in a particularly good mood today, and it wasn't just Bella and me. Really, I think that Rosalie had more to do with that even than Jasper. She had really changed her attitude towards me – finally, eighty years later – and I could only hope that this was a permanent change, as opposed to the occasional lulls I had been graced with. She had changed her attitude, and the whole feeling of the family changed with it, for the better.

I was in the outfield when I saw Alice's vision. Alice called for us to stop, panic in her tone. _Edward they changed course! They heard us and changed course to investigate!_

I was already back to Bella at that point, and we were all racing to surround her, to conference. I put my arms around her. The burn I felt in my throat was welcome – it was a strong reminder to me that she was still alive.

"What's going on?" she asked, her tone conveying both her confusion and her mounting fear. But I couldn't answer her in that moment.

The nomads were within my range, now.

There were three, just as in Alice's vision. They were traveling quickly. One was a tracker, he was sadistic and liked to play games. I could see it clearly from the memories he was recalling as he ran. He considered himself the consummate hunter and it seemed like his pride would not allow him to let any interesting quarry escape. The woman was his mate, and they were the ones to watch out for. The third wasn't very closely bonded to them and was worried about trespassing on our territory, which it seems they genuinely didn't realize they'd done until it was too late.

As always, Carlisle led the discussion, and I knew it would be frustrating for Bella, but it was too important and we needed to have this discussion quickly. I knew it would be far too quick for her ear to follow. I would fill her in later. Alice explained her vision, then Carlisle turned to me.

"Can you get her out, is there time?"

I shook my head. I would need three days worth of head start with a tracker, plus a good rain. A human out here in the middle of nowhere would be a tempting prospect, and I feared that the fact that she was in our midst, unharmed, to say nothing of the fact that we would protect her, would undoubtedly make her more interesting prey to the tracker. I told Carlisle as much. Then I continued.

"If he attacks her, if he even decides on it in his head, decides to hunt her later for sport, I'll kill him, Carlisle. I'm sorry, but I will. Right here, right now. He's not the sort to give up – if he wants her, he'll hunt her no matter how long it takes, no matter what he has to do, and it will be easier and less painful for all of us if we just kill him now, if that's how it's going to be. If he decides to start it, I will end it."

"I'm with you, Edward," Emmett said, all seriousness now. He remembered all too clearly Port Angeles. We all did. Only, this wasn't a chance encounter with a serial rapist and murderer, this was a vampire tracker, beholden to no law so far from the Volturi.

"And I as well," Jasper said.

"We all are," responded Carlisle. "Bella is a part of our family. We will protect her."

"What about his companions?" Alice asked.

"The male could go either way. He's not very closely connected with the other two. But the woman is his mate, and she's violent, vindictive, and I think she has some sort of talent that eases her escape, somehow. Either way, she prides herself on it. But I would be surprised if she doesn't go down with him."

"Alright," said Carlisle, "we're decided then. We'll try to get rid of them quickly. If they can truly leave us in peace, they are free to go. If not, Edward, you and I will take the tracker. Jasper, Emmett, you have his mate. Rosalie, Alice, restrain the third. Esme, guard Bella."

We were agreed, and so we resumed our game, though in normal proportions, and I switched with Esme, taking her place as catcher. No one was going to hit anything more than a first base run, if that. We were going through the motions, now.

"Edward, what's going on?" Bella whispered urgently to me, the beginnings of fear in her voice.

"Take your hair down. Pull it around your face."

_It won't help, Edward. If the wind is wrong I can smell her from here_, Alice thought.

Bella did as I asked, but repeated her question. "What's going on, Edward?"

"Put your backpack on and don't leave my side," I murmured. She might need the first aid kit, not to mention the food if we had to leave quickly. "Strap it on tight. I don't care how it looks. I don't want it coming off."

_**Edward, please, please tell me what's going on!**_she mentally shouted such that I could hear her, even outside of her mind, even with the worried thoughts of my family, even with the deeply troubling thoughts of the tracker and his small coven.

I answered her as I caught the ball and threw it back. "The nomads are coming. They've changed course. They may leave in peace, but if they decide they want you, now or later, we won't let them leave."

"Why would they want me later?" Bella asked very quietly.

"One of them is like that. And if he fixates on you… I won't let them hurt you, Bella."

"_**We**_ won't let them hurt you," Jasper, who was at bat, corrected.

"What are you prepared to do?" she whispered.

"We'll destroy them, Bella. We'll rip them up and burn the pieces."

"Please don't get hurt," she whispered, almost inaudibly for a human's senses. "If any of you got hurt because of me… I don't… I don't know what I would do." _**Please don't get hurt, please don't get hurt, please don't get hurt…**_

"None of us are going to get hurt. But when the time comes, I want you to stand behind me and stay _absolutely silent_."

"But the scent of my blood, the sound of my heart, won't they… won't they already know?"

_The wind will change, Edward, in our favor. But it may not hold. In fact, I don't think it will, unless Carlisle can end this very, very quickly,_ Alice thought.

And then the wind did change, and I could smell them clearly. "They won't be able to smell you now," I said, omitting the end of that part of the vision, and the fact that they could undoubtedly smell her before. "And they won't be able to pinpoint who exactly is the human if we stay close to one another." It wasn't entirely true, of course. There were a number of ways that they could narrow it down to two or three choices, depending on how we stood and if we looked them in the eye.

"If it does turn ugly, it will be over quickly. Esme will be with you, so stay close to her, then." I reached out for her with my left hand. I took it up and kissed it, treasuring the burn, the flood of venom in my mouth. It told me she was still alive, still human and in need of protection, still worth fighting for, the center of my universe – my human love. She edged closer to me, pressing her front against my left side as I stood to catch now.

_**If any of you got hurt, sweet gentle Alice, or shy Jasper, Edward, if something happened to you, I couldn't live with myself! Edward, I couldn't!**_

"Bella," I murmured softly, catching another strike and throwing the ball back to Alice. I still held my love's hand. "You are the love of my life, the center of my universe, you are my mate, my future wife, and perhaps one day the mother of my children. You are part of this family, and we would kill any number of vampires to keep you safe. At the end of this day, I will take you home to rest in your bed, safe and sound, and I will hold you and chase away any nightmares, and all of this will be only a fading memory. I promise you, Bella. I promise you."

Alice ran to us then, and then Emmett and Esme. Alice motioned for Emmett and Jasper to shift over to the right side while Carlisle and Esme stood most prominently. Alice and Rosalie flanked the left while Bella and I stood a few paces behind, directly behind Carlisle. We were all in a subtle vee formation, protecting the weakest member of our family. If any of the three were strategists it would be obvious that the human was either Bella, or me, but it was the only way.

I listened as they approached.

Their most prominent figure was not their leader, and this instantly put me further on guard. They put out a decoy, the second male. He was flanked by the tracker and his mate, only the tracker was strangely preoccupied with Alice. He recognized her, or thought he did. I picked her full name out of his head. Mary Alice Brandon. His memories were confusing to me, but I would remember them all, obtuse or not, so that I could relate them to Alice later.

They all heard Bella's heartbeat, and they were more curious than I liked. The mate wondered if we had brought a snack, and if we were willing to share. She didn't see how far one human would go between ten vampires, though.

Carlisle greeted them cordially and pleasantries were exchanged. The decoy, at least, seemed eager to stay and converse, and certainly was eager not to offend so large a coven. Carlisle was quickly sucked into conversation, explaining our lifestyle and nearby residence, even going so far as to invite them there. The mate was almost completely uninterested, except in the prospect of a shower, which appealed to her, but she could take it or leave it. The tracker was still utterly entranced with Alice. I think he once tried to track her, as a human, playing a game with it. She was guarded by a vampire who had taken to her – had he bonded with her? That was strange, I thought vampires could only form a bond with a mate once. But she was turned, and he was disappointed. The tracker killed the vampire in question, in retribution, but he didn't enjoy it nearly as much.

Then a fleeting thought, but I caught it. The tracker wished he could take something more from Alice, from her family. He would, given the chance.

And then, the wind changed. He tried to lunge past us almost instantly. I was listening to his thoughts, and suddenly they raged. Bella was his singer – it was a rare phenomenon, but sometimes a particular human's blood sang out so strongly to a particular vampire that it was an instinctual reaction, almost involuntary.

Alice had sung to him as well, but not this strongly. He had been able to make a game out of it, teasing himself until the end. He had no such intentions today.

The tracker tried to lunge past Rosalie, but she grabbed him, only to be flung away. But instantly we mobilized, me quickest of all, alerted as I was to his intentions.

I went straight for his throat and tore it out without preamble. Everything else happened so quickly. Rosalie recovered and threw herself at the decoy who seemed stunned, and both she and Alice had him immobilized but unharmed on the ground, holding his arms to his body and his legs to the sod. Emmett and Jasper had a more difficult time, and the mate attacked Jasper, going for his jugular. Emmett went to pull her off and indeed had his hands on her shoulders, but Jasper was faster, reaching around behind her head, through her hair, and grabbing the back of her skull. He dug his fingers in and under the base of the skull and even while she had locked her teeth into his neck, he ripped her head clean off her spine and threw it away from him.

Carlisle came to me just as quickly as Esme rushed to Bella, picked her up and ran with her to the other edge of the field, some two hundred yards in the opposite direction.

"Edward," Carlisle called, holding down the still struggling body of the tracker. "Wait."

He had my attention, though I held the tracker as well.

Jasper and Emmett were making short work of the mate. They already had her limbs ripped off with the now familiar sound of shrieking metal and were scattering them across the field for the moment, tossing them lightly in different directions so they could not rejoin before we gathered them to be burnt. He and Emmett came to me as well and before I knew what was going on, Jasper was about to rip off the tracker's head. I stopped him.

"Let Alice do it," I said.

Emmett went over and secured the decoy by himself while Alice came to us and Rosalie ran to collect any reasonably dry, or at least dead wood that there might be in the area.

"Go," said Carlisle. "We'll deal with this. Bella needs you. I'll call you if we need your opinion on the other one."

I was there in two and a half seconds, sending Esme off to help collect the necessary firewood for the bonfire we were about to have. I could hear Jasper and Alice tearing the other one to pieces.

"It's over," I said as I sunk into her mind and she into my arms. I remembered then that while her mind protected me from the worst frenzy of my bloodlust, my stark rage remained. It was a very similar moment as on the rooftop, with only one exception: that which hunted Bella was no more, this time.

"I didn't even see anything happen," Bella said shakily. "One minute they were talking and the next I was over here, and then when I looked up… they were all dead," she said, ending in a whisper. "It happened so fast. What… what happened, Edward?"

"The wind changed."

_I think I finally understand what you meant about… about fearing you, though. I mean, I don't Edward, you know I don't. And I don't have any of that instinctive fear toward your family, either. But when those others got close… I don't… I don't think it was just because of what you told me. I mean, I was afraid, but when they got close, I was just… really, really uncomfortable, and it was something different than my worry. It was so hard to stand still, to not move. I wanted to get away. I understand now. And now I know unequivocally – I've never, not ever felt that way around you or your family. Never, Edward._

I heard Carlisle calling me then, his normal speaking voice carrying well to my ears despite the distance.

"Just a moment love," I said and tore myself away from the landscape of her mind.

The thirst rushed back full force, but my intense anger against the tracker held it in check for Bella's sake.

_Is he telling the truth, Edward?_ Carlisle asked. _He says that he is ashamed – Jasper confirms – and has been tired of the tracker's – James – antics. He fears us, but holds no grudge. He sees that James and Victoria were in the wrong._

I searched his mind and found him to be honest. What's more, he truly was intrigued with our lifestyle, but feared our retribution against him too strongly to say more. He thought it strange that we should go so far to protect what he considered a pet, but acknowledged utterly that it was beyond the pale for a guest to attack the pet of a host.

"It's true. And he's interested – tell him about the Denali's," I replied. Then I added, "I'm going to take Bella home."

I sank into her mind just in time to hear her vociferous protest.

_**No!**__ I want to stay._

"That's a bad idea."

_Why?_

"It's been a long day. Bella, I just want to get you out of here, get you to where you're safe." Where you can go into shock in comfort, I thought.

_I'm perfectly safe now, safer than I was before we even started playing baseball, when we were all having so much fun. I want to stay until they're burnt. You did this for me. You all did this for me, because of me. It all happened so quickly I couldn't even witness it, but I can witness this. And I __**will**__, Edward. I need to stay. If I'm really a part of your family as you say I am, as this ring proclaims, then I need to stay with the family while we clean up the mess._

I thought about that for a moment, and realized that no matter my own feelings on the subject, she was adamant. And she was right that she was no longer in any danger.

"Fine, but we stay over here, and if the wind changes, we move. And I want you to eat something."

I sat down and pulled her down with me, taking the backpack off of her.

"You can't be serious," she said.

"Quite serious. I don't want you going into shock. Sugar will do you good, and it's about time for you to eat anyway."

_I'm not hungry._

"It's not about being hungry or not." I sighed and pulled her into my lap. She had been next to me, but that was too far away. "Please, Bella," I pleaded with her, quietly in her ear. "Please, for me, please just eat something."

_Fine. _She took the sandwich out, fumbled with the wrapper and after a long moment took a savage bite.

I opened the thermos and poured out a small cup of the still steaming hot chocolate for her, holding it until it cooled somewhat and she was ready to drink it.

_Tell me what happened and I'll eat the entire sandwich. Which tastes like cardboard just now, and that's not a comment on your skills in the kitchen, angel._

She was tricky, my Bella, but it was worth it.

"What exactly did you see?"

_I think I heard more than I saw. I mean, I was flying backwards all of the sudden – yes Esme held my head – and I didn't see anything, but I heard growling – yours and other people's – and I heard the most awful noise, like a lot of metal twisting and tearing. And then I looked up, and I saw Alice… tear that man's head off__, and then you were over here._

I held her tighter with my free arm and cradled her body with mine. My legs were on either side of her, and I bent my knees, pulling my legs up and around her, protecting her in a cage of my body.

A cage with a cupholder, I thought ruefully.

"The wind shifted," I said, beginning to retell the story to her. I tried to explain the idea of a singer, but she didn't quite grasp the enormity of it. I let it pass. It didn't matter anymore. It amazed her that it could all happen so very quickly, that we could think and speak and react before her eyes could even register a change in her environment, that things could have happened in a sequence that seemed impossibly long to me, instead of all at once as it seemed to her. She did have a greater understanding of me running, however.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her as she finished her sandwich and tucked the empty plastic wrap back in the bag. She reached for the small thermos cup of hot chocolate before she answered.

"Don't you know?"

"It doesn't work like that," I answered, wrapping both arms around her now. I buried my nose in her hair and breathed deeply of her scent. Lavender, freesia, the faint musk that was uniquely her, and a dash of me – it was the most beautiful scent in the world. "I'm in your head, not your heart. I mean, sometimes I can tell because of your tone, or because you're thinking about your emotions. Sometimes your emotions color your background thoughts, the vague nebulous state of your mind, but Jasper is the one who can feel emotions."

_Oh. Well. I'm okay._

"That wasn't quite what I asked. Do you not want to tell me, or do you not know?"

She snorted. _How could I not know what I'm feeling?_

"You'd be surprised how many people aren't in touch with their emotions."

_Do you think I'm one of them?_

Uh-oh. This was potentially hazardous territory. "Not necessarily. But it wouldn't be unusual, or the end of the world if it took you a little bit of time to sort them out. You'd be in good company."

She thought about that for a minute_. I think I'm really fine. I mean, you know me. Great ability to compartmentalize bad stuff._

I thought about that for a minute. "Bella, compartmentalizing doesn't mean you're actually dealing with it. You are safe now, it's true, but someone just tried to kill you. Again."

_Are you __**trying**__ to freak me out?_

Was I? I didn't think so. I didn't want her to be afraid, I just wanted her to see what was actually going on. Just to see it, recognize it, and be able to move on from there.

"No," I said. I listened to her heartbeat as it became elevated again.

_It was all over so quickly, it was like it almost didn't happen. But waiting for it to happen, that took forever. That was real. And I don't think I was ever really afraid for myself. I mean, I trusted you to protect me, but it's more than that, I think. I just… I don't matter that much – no, you wanted to hear this, so you let me finish_, she thought as I tried to protest. _But I was terrified, Edward, make no mistake. I was terrified that someone would get hurt trying to protect me, that some insane, immoral vampire would harm a member of your family, and I love them all so much, and there was nothing I could do to protect them. Nothing. All I could do was minimize my impact – stand still and make no noise. I wanted to be the one to rip his throat out, Edward. Me._

She started crying then, and she didn't have to describe how angry she was for me to know she was feeling at least that emotion.

_I don't want you to have to fight my battles for me, Edward. I want to be on par with you. I want to fight our battles together with you, side by side. I cover your back, you cover mine – that's the way it ought to be._

The thought horrified me, that she might be exposed like that, but I knew better than to voice my opinion just now. I swallowed back my own bile and addressed the part of her thoughts that I could.

"I know, love. Soon."

_Moments like this, and it can't be soon enough._ She finished her cocoa and screwed the top on the thermos, tucking it back in her bag.

I held her for a long time then. The carefully contained fire was already raging across the field from us, but I had my eyes turned away. She shifted a little in my embrace so that she could almost completely face me, but also see the bonfire. Bella wrapped her arms around me and her lips searched out mine. I demurred, kissing down the side of her neck.

"Edward," she muttered. I could hear her frustration very clearly in her tone. _I want you to kiss me._

"I am kissing you," I whispered in her ear. I proceeded to suck on the lobe.

"That's not what I mean, and you know it."

"I just ripped someone's throat out, Bella. At least let me brush my teeth first."

"And I just ate a roast beef sandwich, and drank hot chocolate. You never seem to mind." _And besides, you have my blood in your mouth all the time, and I kiss you afterwards._

I leaned back and looked at her. "Are you serious?"

_You know I am, silly man. At least let me make up my own mind about it, okay?_

I took out her water bottle and helped myself to it, filling my mouth with the cool liquid, swishing it around and spitting it back out, away from her.

I looked back at her, seeing her raised eyebrow. She took the water from me and did the same. I shrugged. It didn't really bother me. I had gotten used to the faint aftertaste of food in her mouth, altering her flavor this way and that.

I kissed her then, our lips meeting in the same gentle fashion as they always did. I opened my lips to her, ready for her rejection, but as her tongue slipped into my mouth, as I swallowed her sigh, her only thought was, _tastes like Edward_.

We kissed each other slowly, thoroughly, for the next hour while the bodies quickly burned down to ash. We held each other gently. It was too cold out here to do anything else, but neither of us wanted that right now. It was enough to kiss and hold and thusly reassure ourselves that we were still both _alive_.

***  
End Chapter 11  
***

**End Note: **So, okay – answer me this: what was your favorite line? And what do you make of my version of the baseball scene? And is Jasper, or is he not the Original American Badass, just as Rosalie told Bella in chapter ten? As my beta Colleen has pointed out, even before she'd read Eclipse, 'Jasper is hardcore.' So there you have it – chapter 11. Do hit that little green button centered below and tell me what you thought of it. It helps feed the Edward muse, which is seriously necessary as I haven't word one written of chapter 12…


	22. Life Continues

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Beta:** Colleen P. Ever constant, ever helpful.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

**Summary**: The day Edward finds his mate, his world grinds to a halt and starts spinning the other way 'round. Vampires mate for life, you know, and it's instantaneous, irrevocable, and irreversible. This is that story.

**Author's Note:** Muscled through writer's block with this one…

***  
Chapter 12: Life Continues  
***

"_Wednesday, March 23, 2005_

"_There has been a change in the tone of our relationship after 'The Bonfire Day', as Bella likes to call it. I don't know if it was just Bella, or Bella and me, or a shift in our entire family, but there was change. It was as if that was the day we married. It was as if that was the day we irrevocably joined our lives with one another. The family has always been very supportive of the two of us, passively accepting and actively helping us to have the best first year together possible, given our delicate circumstances. I wonder how real it was to Bella, however. Surrounded by humans who could not make an intimate relationship last five years, surrounded by humans who were willing to trivialize her emotions because of her age. This is not to say that I ever doubted her affection – I knew better than to do that. I'm not sure what I doubted, but whatever it is, it no longer exists within her._

"_There is a confidence about my love now that she did not have before. There is a certainty that is present, a sense of grounding in the firm knowledge that she belongs with me, with us, in a way that perhaps she has never belonged before. It is not an absence of doubt or questions, but a presence of faith. Her zeal has been tempered into something less incendiary and more long lasting."_

I paused in my journal writing and listened to Bella's thoughts as she sat in Government class. They were learning about lobbying, but she was thinking about distributive justice, out of something she had read ahead for class. She was wondering if our family donated any portion of our wealth on a regular basis, if we funded non-profit organizations, or research, or scholarship programs. She wondered if vampires lobbied, and if so, what they would lobby for. She wondered how organized vampires were – since we obviously didn't gather for three month conferences in the Arctic during the Northern Hemisphere's summer – and how the world could possibly not know about us. She imagined there couldn't be very many or the world _would_ know. She had a somewhat horrifying miniature fantasy about a vampire apocalypse in which a rogue vampire would go around making hundreds of thousands of vampire newborns, who would then entirely consume their food source leading to the fall of the human race, the eventual cannibalism of the vampire race, and the rise of the dolphin race.

I wondered if she had read Douglas Adams.

Her attention refocused to her work, and mine to my journal.

"_There are still things we have yet to discuss. She needs more sleep, and yet I am loathe to broach the subject, as I rather enjoy what we do together in those extra three hours she isn't sleeping each day. She has yet to give me my present, though I know she has received it, and I worry about what might be holding her back, though I dare not mention it. I am untenably impatient these days with her humanity. No, that is not true. I adore her humanity, and will miss it when it is gone – her blushes, her heat, the reassuring thud of her heart that calls me like a beacon, her dreams that unlock her subconscious mind, her family – the relationship she has with her father, a man I am growing to appreciate and admire more as the weeks pass. I enjoy cooking with Emmett for her, and watching her eat one mouthful at a time. None of this could possibly foster impatience for me. It is everything else. It is school. It is the fact that she is a minor, still. It is the reality that we cannot live as everyone else in my family does, sharing our space, our lives inexorably entwined, separating from one another only when we desire space. I should not feel this way, but I admit it: I am impatient to get on with our lives._

"_And yet that impatience cannot but bring guilt with it, for looking forward to such a thing also means that I look forward to the severing of Bella's relationship with her parents, which will necessarily be very hard for her, and to a lesser extent, me, as I am grown fond of Charlie Swan.__ It means a year of neonate rage and madness in which my love will barely ever, if at all, be herself. I am a selfish inhuman monster to wish such a thing for my love, and yet, I do. I do. God help me, but I do._

"_And children. Where will children, or a single child, fit into the equation? I have not the faintest idea. And will our offspring be a beautiful child or a monstrous spawn? And if it is the latter, will we have the strength to destroy it when the obviousness of its ontology becomes manifest, or will we all die to protect it when the Volturi come? __Or will it rip our family apart, one from another in base disagreement?_

"_I have no answers._

"_We have some time before we need to make a decision on the subject of childbearing, but not much. The months will pass all too quickly between now and September of 2006, when Bella might ordinarily matriculate into the college of her choice, and the date when she will no longer be missed in Forks. No decisions had been made, whether or not we will fake her death sooner or later, but certainly by Christmas of that year one parent or another would expect her presence and it would be too dangerous to play one off the other, as they would be certain to compare notes at some point._

"_Many things could change between now and then, but certainly the necessity of staging Bella's death wouldn't be one of those things, and it is sure to cause her so much pain._

"_I can bear to think of it no longer."_

I stopped writing then and began to sketch. It was something that I had seen last weekend, the very first time that Bella had spent the entire weekend with me while my family was off hunting, while the entire Cullen family plus Bella were supposedly camping. I glanced over while our bedroom was illuminated by the moon and saw our reflection in the mirror that stood near the bed, in front of the windows. I saw from an outsider's perspective what we looked like, covered in that moment only by a sheet that clung to the contours of our bodies as they wrapped around each other. I saw the delicate shading of my love's face in black and white as she slept, her head resting on the planes of my exposed chest, her face turned toward the mirror. Her left hand was splayed across my chest, just lower than the place where her head rested in slumber.

I drew from the perspective that I observed in the mirror, her face, her exposed shoulders, the line of the sheet covering her and then dipping down, nearly exposing her left breast and leaving my entire torso exposed. Unseen and undrawn was my left arm, wrapped around her body, but my right arm lay on the bed next to me. I remember with perfect clarity tracing the fingers of her left hand over and over again.

I remembered daydreaming about our children. I looked at the difference between my hand and Bella's, and I wondered if we had a little girl, if her hand would look just like Bella's one day. I wondered if she would have the same gorgeous multi-hued chestnut hair, the same light brown eyes, or if it were perhaps possible that she or he might have my eyes, my green eyes. I remembered my face crumpling then, and had I been able to cry I might have at the thought that I could have a child, a son or a daughter that would carry my DNA, that would be of my blood, not adopted but uniquely mine and Bella's, a Cullen child that we would all raise and adore, a child that perhaps might help Rosalie and Esme to heal in a way they'd never truly been capable of doing before. A child, or children, who would be loved, who would be taught a way of existing in the world that was full of love and caring and compassion. A child who could grow and age and be given all of the advantages that could be offered. A child who would grow to adulthood and offer to the world some service that only he or she could uniquely do, and then do it to the best of his or her ability until the end of his or her days. A child who would grow old and one day die, if that was the choice of the child, but whose life would be full of love and light for as long as it lasted.

I remembered so clearly holding Bella as she slept, praying to a God I imagined to exist for a healthy child, a healthy, whole, sane, human child. Had I been able, I would have wept throughout my petition. As it was, I sighed, and hoped that it would be enough.

I remembered, and I drew. I drew compulsively, and all throughout my classes. I drew Bella and myself together, over and over again – not in her dreamscape, but moments from our time together. I drew what I thought we might have looked like when we lay in the meadow, me reading Shakespeare, Bella daintily accepting strawberries from my fingertips. I drew what I thought we might have looked like as I held her during the bonfire after the baseball game was called for nomadic vampires. I refrained from drawing anything deeply intimate, as I did not wish to share that unintentionally with any of my classmates or teachers, but still I drew. My memory was full of moments of the two of us together. I drew what I thought we might have looked like as I curled up with her on her bed, feeding her hors d'eurves before the Spring Dance. I drew the two of us dancing, practicing in the meadow in front of our house, Bella's head thrown back in laughter. I drew the two of us at my piano, sitting on the bench, her head on my shoulder, her hand on my thigh. I drew Bella as she sat on my lap with my arms around her as our family played cut-throat Monopoly, inevitably losing to either Emmett and Rosalie, or Jasper and Alice. I drew us as we stood in her kitchen exactly one week ago today, Bella standing behind me with her arms wrapped around my waist, me at the counter, chopping vegetables. It was the wrong perspective to read the apron as it proclaimed that the chef needed love, specifically in the from of kissing, but there was no shortage of such love. Bella made certain of that.

I drew, and drew, and drew. I drew, to keep the demons at bay. The end of the school day could not come quickly enough.

Wednesday was Bella's new shopping day, and she no longer fussed when I bought the groceries. Last week my very thin excuse was the meal I was going to prepare for her and Charlie, but this week I didn't bother and she simply accepted it.

"Edward, we don't need Twinkies."

"I'm curious about them, though," I said, defending my addition to the cart.

"In what way?" she asked, her forehead crinkled up in confusion. _What's there to be curious about when it comes to Twinkies? Honestly, sometimes I really don't understand him._

I smirked. She could just wait and see.

Bella rolled her eyes at me and we continued on, making our way quickly and efficiently through the small grocery store. We met Emmett quite unexpectedly in the butcher's aisle, a small basket of groceries hanging off his arm, mostly vegetables.

Bella voiced the question in both of our minds.

"What the hell are you doing here, Emmett?"

"You better watch it, squirt. I'm getting stuff for _your_ dinner tomorrow, so be nice, or I'll put hot sauce in it by mistake." We watched as he selected a ten pound roast.

"You don't seriously think I can eat all of that, do you?" Bella asked very quietly, not wishing our fellow shoppers to overhear her.

Emmett just grinned. "There's no trust, I can tell. As you were, squirt, bookworm," Emmett said, calling us both by his favorite nicknames for us. "See you tomorrow. Say 'hi' to Charlie for me." Then he turned and ignored us as he charmed the woman behind the counter.

It was clear to me that there was more to the story that he simply did not wish to tell us. For once, I didn't care. I had no wish to step one foot out of Bella's mind to try to crack his. Besides, he was probably imagining Rosalie naked. He knew that always made me want to run away and wipe out my mind with bleach, and so knowing, I didn't bother to step outside of my sanctuary only to observe what I knew I wouldn't want to see. It didn't really matter, anyway. For once I would be able to give a member of my family the privacy they wished to have. I wouldn't deny either of us the pleasure of that moment. I steered Bella away, instead.

"What was that all about?" she asked quietly.

I shrugged.

"I really can't eat all of that."

I nodded. We all knew that. It probably meant that there was going to be someone else who could. Either that, or Emmett was simply bent on obeying a recipe to the letter. Either one was completely possible, and neither was likely, so it was a toss up, and I couldn't be bothered to attempt to predict the outcome. The lack of control felt surprisingly good. I would have to try this more often on other equally trivial things.

We had only been back at her house for a half hour when someone knocked on the door. I hadn't recognized the sound of the car they drove, nor the sound of their footsteps, nor their scent. It was no one from school. It was no adult I'd ever encountered in Forks. I was instantly on my guard, standing frozen in front of the dish I had been carefully mixing together. I instantly came out of Bella's mind and listened to the person at the door.

They weren't thinking anything in particular, which led me to believe that they weren't out for blood, but that wasn't something I could guarantee.

Bella got up from her homework. "I'll get it," she said simply.

"I don't know who it is," I insisted quietly.

"Me neither," she said, smirking.

"It's no one I've ever met in Forks," I said quickly, one hand on her arm, restraining her from going any further.

She looked down at my hand on her arm and then back up at me. I didn't have to be in her head to realize that I wasn't pleasing Bella with my actions. She arched an eyebrow at me. "Well, since you never really get out, that's not so surprising, is it?"

Bella tried to continue to walk toward the door, but I didn't let her go. I was getting desperate.

Her eyes narrowed at me. "Let go of me, Edward. You may accompany me to the door and be polite while you're there, or you may continue cooking and simply listen in, but you may not restrain me from answering it."

I let go of her immediately and proceeded her to the door before she could follow my movement. I stood directly next to the door, out of the line of sight of someone outside, but present and ready should something occur.

"Coming!" Bella called out from the kitchen as she walked to the door.

_So awesome, I mean, now I have wheels. This is going to be so cool. Shoot, I wonder when Charlie comes home, though. It isn't so bad when Dad's here, but I'm not sure if Charlie will be so lenient without Dad around._

The person on the other side of the door was thinking again, but I still didn't know who it was. They were obviously underage, but they didn't go to Fork's High School.

Bella opened the door and a smile lit up her face. Before she could utter her greeting, I knew who it was.

_Gosh, she's pretty. Her boyfriend is one lucky guy, even if he is a vampire. I wonder if she's got any cute, single friends._

Jacob Black.

"Jacob! Hey, how are you doing?" Bella asked, holding the door wide open.

"I'm great," the young Quileute responded, and his voice was a pleasant counterpoint to the tone of his thoughts, which I would now be able to pick out of a crowd. "I wanted to thank you for the Master Cylinder. Check it out!" he crowed.

I watched Bella look beyond the figure in the doorway and raise and eyebrow.

"Wow, so it runs, and everything?"

The boy scoffed. "Of course it runs! I _rebuilt_ it."

Bella smiled again. "Well, it's really Rosalie you should thank. She's the one who got it for me. We're going over tomorrow, if you want to tag along and say thanks."

"You think that would be okay?" he asked, the tone of his voice suddenly quite dark.

"Sure!" I could see the wheels turning in her head. She was playing ambassador, again, bless her.

"I mean, we've got a couple of generations of animosity built up, and my dad would totally flip out if he knew I'd been to the Cullen's place, much less, you know, was like, hanging out with one of them."

If he thinks he's going hanging out with _Rosalie_… well, that will be an interesting scene.

"I think this is a need-to-know situation, and Billy really doesn't need to know. Hey, anyway, you can practice _now_ and build your tolerance," she said with a grin.

"Huh?"

Bella's eyes cut to mine and her expression begged me to behave.

"Edward's here, cooking for Charlie and me. Come and hang out with us. You should stay for dinner."

I swallowed my pride and ran back to the kitchen, past the two of them, but secure in the knowledge that neither one of them could actually see me.

_Wow, Bella's got some great perfume on._

Nice to know the werewolf cub thought I smelled nice.

"Oh, I don't know. I mean, I didn't tell my dad I'd be gone for long. And I'm not sure Charlie's going to be over the moon when he sees I'm driving. I'm still a little ways off till I have a license, you know. Like, next January."

"Oh, come on," Bella said, and I heard the door close. "Charlie won't mind – it's just to visit _us_. And Billy won't mind either – just don't tell him who is cooking. Come on, come meet Edward."

And then they were in the kitchen. It wasn't a large house to begin with, and it certainly didn't take much time to travel from the front door to the back door. I very deliberately set the knife down and rearranged my face to a pleasant countenance. I would attempt to reserve judgment until the end of the night. Just because the child was a Quileute didn't mean this had to end badly. That was the thought that I kept firmly in my mind.

_**Be nice, Edward!**_ I heard Bella shout, even though I wasn't in her head. There was something more about diplomatic relations, but I couldn't catch all of it, it was too quiet.

I turned and smiled, quickly taking his form in before he could realize that I was giving him the once over. He was a little shorter than I was and he had long black hair that shone as it fell across the shoulders of his rain jacket. He was very thin and his clothes looked well worn, his jeans just slightly too short for him – clearly bought before his last growth spurt. He looked like a typical gangly teenager, and he certainly didn't smell like the werewolves we'd encountered before.

That was a smell I'd never forget.

My eyes returning to his before he knew they were gone, I stuck my hand out and offered it to the young man.

"Jacob Black, Edward Cullen. Jacob's dad and Charlie have been friends for ages. Billy's one of the tribal elders."

That struck a cord. I knew that face from somewhere.

"Are you a descendant of Ephraim Black, then?" I inquired politely once we had finished our handshake.

Jacob Black nodded silently.

"You look very much like him. He was a good man. Very protective. Appropriately so."

"Um, thank you. Sir," he tacked on, clearly not sure how to handle someone who did not seem to be his elder, and yet clearly was.

"Right, okay…" Bella said, and the look on her face displayed her discomfort.

"Can we take your jacket?" I asked politely.

"Oh, yea, right, sure, thank you, sir," Jacob Black said, and suddenly he was all awkward limbs as he jolted into motion, taking his jacket off in the middle of the kitchen were we stood.

Bella took it from him and quicker than I would have imagined had it hung up in the hall and was back. She cleared up her homework, cleaning off the table and stowing it back into her bag while I attempted to put Jacob Black at ease.

I smiled, all charm. "Please call me Edward, Jacob. Why don't you sit down? Can I get you something to drink?"

"Um, no, I'm fine, th-th-thanks, Edward." At least he did sit down.

"So, um… what are you cooking?" he asked tentatively.

"Baked salmon stuffed with crab meat and cream cheese in phyllo dough, served in a cream sauce with roasted rosemary and garlic potatoes and asparagus in hollandaise sauce," I replied.

"Yea, I'll stay for dinner," Jacob replied immediately.

Bella and I laughed, and eventually Jacob joined in as well.

"Dude, it totally beats out Mac & Cheese night. Lemme just call my dad and let him know. Can I use your phone, Bella?"

Bella nodded and we both waited while Jacob made his call. In fact it _was_ Mac & Cheese night at the Black household. I wondered if Jacob would be eating with us every Wednesday from now until next September. If the enthusiasm he was suddenly showing was any indicator, it was a likely prospect.

Once they were both sitting down at the table again, Bella with a glass of water in front of her, I resumed my work at the counter. Also, I sunk back into Bella's mind. Now that I knew Jacob Black was not an immediate threat, and in fact was swayed so easily at the thought of an excellent dinner, I had no fears for Bella's immediate safety.

The texture of her mind was as it always was – nearly as soothing as blood sliding down my throat. I could feel my shoulders relax, the tightness in my chest ease. I breathed deeply, taking in the scents of the kitchen, the raw food, the wood and plastic and metal, the subtle scent of our clothing and the much stronger scent of our bodies, Bella's unique and delicious fragrance, Jacob's particular scent, and the lingering scent of Charlie in the air around us. I let it wash over me as I simply enjoyed the act of breathing.

_Baby, are you back now?_ How could she tell? I nodded slowly, up and down twice.

_Was that a nod? Oh, for goodness sake, what are we, in the secret service now? Who do I look like, James Bond?_

I smiled. She didn't, actually. And while she didn't look like Condoleeza Rice either, she was proving her diplomatic skills in spades.

"So, like, you're cooking," Jacob observed. "But you don't really… I mean, you're not planning on eating, right?"

"No," I answered.

"But what will Charlie say?"

"Charlie thinks I have an allergy to nearly everything but raw vegetables and steak," I replied.

Jacob snorted, but Bella continued on, the pride barely contained in her voice. "Edward's learning how to cook for me. It all tastes like dirt to him, and he can't stand the smell of cooked food, but he's doing it anyway."

"It's the least I could do," I said softly as I wrapped the stuffed fish in phyllo dough, sealing it shut with some melted butter and laying the large package gently on the greased baking dish. I covered the phyllo dough package in a damp towel, set the dish aside and started to cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces.

"So, what do you do, just like, sit at the table and watch them eat?"

"Yes."

"Man, that's weird."

"We tell Charlie that Edward eats while he cooks, that he normally just sort of snacks through the day, that mealtimes aren't such a big deal to him."

"And he buys that?"

"So far," Bella said.

"So… Um, Edward… What _do_ you eat?"

"Venison mostly, of late."

_What does he mean, mostly? Of late? I thought he liked predators more, _Bella thought, confused.

"Why wouldn't… um, all of the, uh… cold ones… do that?"

I don't know if this counted as a meaningful conversation or friendly interrogation, but I was out of my depth and it was a very uncomfortable place to be. I was grateful when Bella answered for me.

"It's not in their instinct to do so, and it doesn't taste as good," she said very quietly.

"And it's not as satisfying," I added, finally finding my voice. "We have to hunt more often, and consume more during each hunt. But the bigger the game, and the higher up on the food chain, the better."

"Dude, deer isn't so high on the food chain."

"No, but it's local and convenient." And it doesn't really matter what I eat these days, I thought to myself. It all pales in comparison to Bella.

_Baby… you're not… I mean… You need to __**eat**__, sweetheart. This isn't right…_

I listened as Bella got up from her seat and came across the small kitchen. She stood directly behind me, and my hands fell still and empty on the counter. She wrapped her arms around me.

_You should go get the food you want, baby. You need to eat, Edward. You never go hunting with your family anymore, but I know you eat something, because your eyes are gold every Sunday morning. But you're not eating enough, are you? You never look as healthy as the rest of the family. Don't think I haven't noticed that the circles under your eyes never really go away. Edward, you __**need**__ to take care of yourself!_

I sighed, knowing I couldn't explain it all with Jacob right here, but I needed to say something.

"It's fine, Bella. Really, love, it's fine."

She squeezed me tighter around the waist while she vehemently protested the point in her mind. Protest or no, I was still able to enjoy the feel of her pressed against my back.

I sighed and took up one of her hands in mine. I separated out her index finger and traced it along my lips, the top, then the bottom, then the crease. Still tracing her finger along my bottom lip, I whispered, "I am more than compensated for my sacrifice." Then I slipped her finger into my mouth. I sucked on it briefly as I swirled my tongue around it. Bella's breathing and heart rate picked up in intensity and I could smell her arousal. It hadn't been my intention. I had only meant to wordlessly convey that her blood made any amount of venison perpetually acceptable.

_Edward, oh my… Um, yea. I think I get your… ooo… point. Um._

"Ugh. Guys. You're grossing me out over here," Jacob complained while laughing. Bella snickered and my smile was not far behind. I released her hand and turned in her embrace. I smiled over at Jacob and then turned my gaze to my love. I bent down and pressed my lips gently and chastely over hers. When I came back up for air, my thumb traced the line of her cheekbone.

"We'd best not gross out the wolf cub. Will you set the table?" I asked her with a grin. Dinner wouldn't be ready for another hour or so, but it would give her something to do that would separate the two of us, at least momentarily.

"Now you're talking, Dracula," Jacob said, still laughing.

"Dinner's still a ways off," Bella remarked. Jacob pouted.

"Hey," Bella said, after a moment, "what's up with the Twinkies?"

"Twinkies?" Jacob asked, his interest piqued. "You have Twinkies?"

"Save me one," I said, rolling my eyes and bringing the potatoes off the stove, patting each piece dry before tossing them in olive oil and herbs.

"Oh, score!" Jacob said as Bella brought out the Twinkies from the cupboard, taking one out before handing the box over to the cub. She came back to me and put mine close to me on the counter.

_I won't push, because heaven only knows what you have planned with it, but just so you know: I am awfully curious._

I leaned over and kissed her.

Jacob groaned, mid bite when he saw us.

"Look, the apron clearly states that I need to kiss the cook, so just get over it, Jake," Bella declared.

Jacob snorted around his Twinkie. "I bet you don't do that in front of Charlie."

I snickered. I was interested to hear Bella's answer.

"Well, no. We don't. But he knows that we kiss, and really with Charlie, I think we're okay keeping that knowledge theoretical and not experiential."

Not entirely true, Bella. "He caught us kissing on your front porch the other night."

_Holy shit! Seriously? _"Really? Um, what was his reaction, I, uh, mean, uh, did you notice anything? That he might have said, I mean?" _What was he thinking? What was he thinking?_

I grinned. "He thinks I'd make a pretty good son-in-law, actually." I peeked over to the kitchen table and saw Bella's blush and her radiant expression, and Jacob's gobsmacked one.

_Really? Oh my gosh, he really… he really thought that? Oh, Edward! Oh my gosh… this is… this is huge! This is everything!_ Her breathing was erratic and it was all I could do to restrain myself from going over there and kissing her soundly.

"He thinks a _vampire_ would make a good son-in-law?"

I turned around and crossed my arms over my chest. It was good that we were about to have this conversation, I thought. This boy would likely be on the tribal council one day, if not the leader of his tribe. While he was still young and impressionable, right now, _**now**_ was a good time for him to hear this.

"No. He has no idea I'm a vampire, as you well know, Jacob. He thinks _I_ would be a good son-in-law. He thinks _I _would be good for Bella. And let me outline why.

"I love Bella beyond the bounds of reason. I love her more than my own life. I have happily rearranged my life so that Bella is a part of it, at the center of it. There is nothing I would not do for her, if she asked me, or if her safety and happiness depended upon it. There is no enemy I would not fight, there is no amount of time through which I would not be patient, there is no way of being I would not adopt so long as it meant that Bella and I could live a long and happy life with one another. I love, I adore, and I deeply respect Bella. Nothing, no thing, is more important to me than Bella. Which is as it should be.

"Vampires mate for life – did you know? It's instantaneous, irrevocable, eternal, and mutual. It's also involuntary. The first day Bella was at school here, she saw me, and I saw her, and that was it. That was the day that the earth stood still.

"There's only one time in the life of a vampire that it's easy to change, inevitable to change. Every other time instinct will have us doing the same thing over and over again. But when we find our mate, everything changes for us just like that—" I snapped my fingers, and both Bella and Jacob, transfigured by my explanation, started slightly. "And there's no going back."

It was silent for a long moment.

"There are stories," Jacob said very quietly. "About the wolves, the _werewolves_, in our tribe, how they find their mates. They see them like they are seeing them for the first time, and they… _imprint_ on them. And it's not… it's not like you describe for vampires. It's not… um, mutual. But it is inevitable. The wolf who imprints, they are just… suddenly they can just be everything for that person. And they know how to do it. They know what to do. It's like the center of their universe shifts to that person."

"Does a werewolf have to imprint on another werewolf?" Bella the ambassador asked quietly.

Jacob slowly shook his head. "There have only ever been male wolves. Their wives are always… you know, normal. Human."

"Are werewolves immortal?" Bella asked, her voice still quiet.

"Sorta. Not really. As long as they keep shifting they stay young and they're hard to kill. They are fast, and strong, they don't get sick, heal quickly, and the cold doesn't bother them. They age and die though, if they stop shifting."

"Do you think, hypothetically, if one of their wives _could_ have chosen to be a werewolf, to stay with her husband like that, she might have done so?"

Jacob shrugged. "I don't know. But I guess, if you love someone that much… maybe."

"Can you keep a secret, Jacob?"

The boy nodded as Bella moved to stand, to come stand by me. She wrapped her arm around my waist. I unfurled my arms from across my chest, and her right hand came to hold my own, down by our sides.

"Edward has waited eighty-seven years to find me, to find his mate, and I'm not going to make him live the rest of eternity without me."

It was a hard thought to even contemplate. In that moment, though, I had to say what was on my mind, the words I hadn't dared or say before now. I looked at her out of the corner of my eye and spoke. "When you die – _if_ you die – I won't be far behind. I'll find a way. Even if I have to go beg the Quileutes to do it."

_Edward, no! _An expression of blatant horror passed over her face.

She was in my arms then, holding onto me fiercely.

_I can't think of you dead! And if we have children, you have a responsibility to them! But I just… no! Stop it! No! __**No!**_

I stroked her hair and kissed her temple, making soothing noises in between. I would never leave her. She had to know that.

"I will never leave, you," I whispered against her hair. "I will only ever follow."

"Are you…" Jacob whispered. "Wow, this is… Whoh. Do you mean… I mean… Do you plan… on… Whoh. What about the treaty?"

I sighed, still holding Bella in my arms, relishing the ferocious hold she had on me. I looked up at Jacob, hoping he was processing this. "We have time to figure it out. We have no wish to break our long-standing treaty with you, or to create enmity between our two parties. Carlisle, our leader, hopes that some understanding might be reached between the two of us, but what that understanding might be, we don't know. But we do have time. It's not happening tomorrow. When Bella goes off to college, no sooner."

I still held Bella as I met Jacob's eye.

"This is a really big deal," he said.

I nodded.

"And you want me to keep this a secret?" he sounded dubious.

"Not for long, just for now."

He nodded. "I can do that."

I smiled at him. "Thank you."

Jacob laughed and broke the tension in the kitchen. "Dude, I have _so many questions!"_

I smiled at him again before drawing back slightly from Bella, tilting her face upwards and kissing her soundly.

"Okay, okay," Jacob said, trying to get us to stop kissing in the kitchen. "I'm sure you guys have plenty of time when I'm not around to do that. Oh, give me a break. Come on! I have _questions_. Can't you kiss later?"

Bella broke off, laughing against my lips. I stole one more quick brush against her lips before turning back to my dinner preparation.

"Fire away," I commented. And he did.

When was I born? Where did I live? What was it like? What did my parents do? What do I remember? When was I made a vampire? What was it like? Under what circumstances did it occur? Where have I lived? What have I done? How many times did I go to school, and which schools, and what did I study, and did I enjoy it? When was Carlisle born? What has he done? Where has he traveled? Why is he a doctor? Was he always a doctor? How can he be a doctor to humans, and how does that work? Was I his first? Does he only change people who are dying? Who was next? How did Carlisle know Esme was his mate? Have they always been together? What is Esme like? How can she be my mother if I'm older than her? What does Esme do? Who did Carlisle make next? Which one is Rosalie? Why was she so angry? What is she like? When was Emmett made? What is he like? When did Carlisle make the other two? What do you mean Alice can't remember anything? She can do _what?_ So your family just accepted her, just like that? When did she find Jasper? What is Jasper like? How old is Jasper? Vampire wars, seriously?

The questions kept coming right up until Charlie pulled up as I was making the hollandaise sauce.

I laughed and cut Jacob off mid-question. "Okay, okay. Charlie's home now. We can continue this, later."

"Really?" asked Jacob. "Seriously? You'll tell me more?"

Bella snorted. "You mythical creatures need to stick together, right?"

"_Hey_, I am _**not**_ a werewolf."

Bella snorted again. "Yea, but it runs in the family, so you never know, wolf boy."

"Oh, you're one to talk, _vampire girl."_

"_**Children**_!" I said, sternly, whipping the hollandaise sauce as I heard Charlie's footstep on the front porch.

_Oh, you'll pay for that __**later**__, Cullen, _Bella instantly thought.

I smirked. I was looking forward to it.

The door opened and Charlie called out to us. "Bella? Edward? Whose car is that?"

"Hey, Charlie!" Jacob called out.

I heard Charlie hang up his gun belt and jacket. "Jacob," he called out, his voice full of foreboding. "Billy better be in there with you."

"Told you," Jacob whispered to us.

"It's okay, I got it," Bella whispered back to him.

Bella got up and went to greet her father at the door. "Hi, Dad. Jacob just came over to show us the car he finished fixing, you know, with that master cylinder that Rosalie, Edward's sister, found for him. I invited him to stay for dinner, because, you know, Edward's cooking beats Mac & Cheese night any day. But don't be mad at him, for driving. I mean, it was _so cool_ to have the three of us hanging out, and we had so much fun and we'd go to his house, only…" And here, Bella trailed off dramatically. She couldn't _lie_ worth a damn, but she was hell on wheels with the truth. "Only, he would get in so much trouble, because… well, you know… Billy doesn't really _like_ Edward's family. So we can't go there, but he can come here, because he has a car now. So, don't be mad. Besides, Edward made salmon. Doesn't it smell delicious?"

Charlie narrowed his eyes and looked to me, as if to confirm the truth. I wasn't beyond recognizing the irony of his actions.

"It would be a shame if I couldn't hang out with Jacob again. He's very cool, and I think we could be good friends," I said, tossing a grin toward the cub.

Charlie sighed. "Fine, fine. After dinner, though," he said, with a finger pointing toward Jacob, "I fully expect you to spend fifteen minutes driving with me around Forks, demonstrating what a safe driver you really are, young man. And if you're not, well, you're just going to have to suffer through not driving until next January. I just can't let you on the roads outside the Rez if you're going to be a hazard, good cooking and friendships, or no."

"You got it!" Jacob said, grinning.

"Well, now that that's settled, Edward, dinner smells amazing." Charlie clapped me on the shoulder and went to get the spare wooden chair from the living room. Bella put water on the table and Jacob drug the table out from the wall slightly. I plated the fish and put the asparagus and potatoes into separate bowls, drizzling the asparagus with the sauce. Soon we all sat around the table, my place empty but for a half-full glass of water from which I moistened my lips throughout the meal.

After the first bite a look of ecstasy came over Charlie's face. "Oh, Edward. Well done."

Jacob moaned. "How often does Edward cook for you? 'Cause, I'm coming over."

Both gentlemen had their eyes quite conveniently closed as they took their next bite, and I shared a smile with Bella.

_Well done, Edward,_ she thought at me as she smiled, slowly chewing her first bite of food, and I knew she wasn't just speaking of the meal.

I had won over her father a few weeks ago, and I was successfully maintaining that victory, but tonight we had both done something more: we had won over Jacob, who would one day undoubtedly be in a position of power in his small tribe. We needed to maintain that victory as well, but we would, and we both knew in that instant how important Jacob's positive view of our family and our relationship would be to achieve our future goals.

_**God**_, I loved Bella. She was wonderful on an average day, but when she started in with the political strategy, she was _**brilliant.**_ I made a vow there and then never to second guess her when it came to interpersonal politics when she had any insight at all to offer. She may not yet realize it as such, but this was _definitely_ her strength. I looked forward to seeing how it would expand and grow in years to come. I wondered, if we ever outlived the Volturi in centuries to come, if she might not be fit to be the next leader of our race. I had no greedy ambition toward the acquisition and maintenance of power, but I could see Bella as the ultimate peacemaker.

I could see it quite clearly, in fact.

_**God**_, she was amazing.

Bella blushed and looked down to her food, taking another bite. _Sweetheart, you might not want to stare at me like you want to fuck me over the table, not with Charlie sitting on your left. He's bound to notice at some point._ She glanced up briefly through her lashes and caught my wry grin. I nodded slightly. She had a point.

Charlie and Jacob were soon in conversation and I tracked their subject with a small corner of my mind, should I be required to participate at some point, but my true focus was on Bella. It was so peaceful to be here with her, safe and secure in her mind. It gave me a deep pleasure to have cooked for her – to provide something that she requires, and to be able to provide it with such a high level of satisfaction. It was a relief that I could be with her even while she was with others, as her life inevitably required the contact of others, but that it did so was not mutually exclusive to my own presence.

Later that night she met me in her room with a kiss.

"I have something for you," she said after our lips parted. She smiled with an innocence that was not forced. Her fingernails raked along my skull through my hair even as my own hands rested quiescent on the top curve of her rear.

When I responded to her, my voice was soft, in its lowest register. "And here I was thinking punishment was in order."

_Yes, but not at my house. _"All in good time," she responded back, her voice barely there. She pictured very clearly in her head a small ring-sized light blue box. She had stored it in her sock drawer. That she had managed to keep its existence from me up until now I found just the side of miraculous. Perhaps she really could compartmentalize. "You do _want_ your gift, right?" she asked.

I smiled against her lips and drew her hips closer to mine. "You know I do," I murmured before begging entrance to her mouth with my tongue. After many long moments she broke our kiss and rather than let go of her I walked the two of us very slowly backwards so we were near her dresser. She turned in my arms to retrieve the box from her drawer, and then turned again, holding the box in both hands in the small space between us.

"You know, you're going to have to let go of me so you can open it."

I smirked at her. "You open it."

She took a shaky breath and bit her bottom lip, but she did as I requested. She slowly opened the box so that it faced me, and I saw instantly that it _was_ a ring box. There, in between twin beds of blue satin, was nestled a man's platinum signet ring. In lieu of a coat of arms, or a seal or crest, there was deeply embossed in the metal, a swan.

I stopped breathing. I couldn't take my eyes from it. I hadn't guessed that she would arrange for something like this, but the gesture touched me deeply. In centuries to come when she will have been known as Bella Cullen for years, I will still wear this remembrance of my human love, and of the human family I was accepted into, every bit as much as she has been accepted into mine. Masen, Johns, Hale, McCarty, Brandon and Whitlock… to this we now add… _Swan. _Our names, our family names that we each brought with us, but now share with others as we need. One day I would no doubt be known as Edward Swan, some where in some school at some point. I would wear the name, I decided, with a particular pride. It wasn't simply a name attached to a life that we could, individually, barely remember. It will have been the name of my love, the name that bore her, the name that identified her throughout the crucible of our relationship. Even when we will have been married and she inevitably will have taken the name Cullen, a name I am proud to consider my own, a name I have lived with longer than Masen, even then this token will remind me of this moment, of all that I pour into my love for Bella, and all she gives – knowingly and unknowingly – to me.

"Is it… okay?" Bella asked in a timid voice I had never before heard.

"_I __**love**__ it,"_ I said as I leaned into her, breathing the words harshly against her lips before I claimed them in gratitude and passion. My fingers combed through her hair and I gently cradled her skull in my hands as I tried to pour all of my adoration into her, from my lips to hers. I was eager to show her just how I felt, but it was impossible to outwardly display the sensation I felt within, as if my chest were expanding too rapidly for my ribs to contain it all. I growled at my inability to kiss her the way I somehow, in theory, wanted to be able to, even though I had no idea what that might be like. All the same my tongue slid over hers and I sucked on it lightly, and when she moaned into my mouth I had her on the bed before she stopped moaning.

Our shift of location inspired her breathing to accelerate, just as her heart rate did when I first kissed her. I ground my hips into hers, my growl a steady, low, constant rumble between us. Her legs circled my hips and I swallowed her needy whine. I tore my lips away from hers then, and whispered kisses and my affectionate words across the skin of her face, her neck, her increasingly exposed shoulders and chest even as I slowly unbuttoned her shirt.

"I love my gift, Bella. It's perfect. You're perfect. Thank you. Thank you, love."

I took up one of her nipples, lapping at the peak until it pebbled up and then very gingerly took it into my mouth, sucking as gently as I ever did. I listened as Bella's breathing turned harsh, though she otherwise kept her silence.

Mentally, however, she was not silent.

_Oh, oh, oh, oh! Yes! Just like that, Edward. Yes, baby, yes… So, um… gosh. Are you, um… gonna… aaaah… gonna wear the ring?_

I growled lowly as I switched my attention to her other breast, giving it the same sweet ministrations that offered the first. Of _course_ I was going to wear the ring.

_I'll… ooooo… take that as yesssss… oh, god, yessss, Edward, yes!_

"Edward," she called to me softly. I raised my head in hungry inquiry. I was ready to accede to whatever she wanted, so long as it had to do with sex. Then I saw her place the open ring box between her breasts. I looked down at the platinum token, and then back up to my love's eyes.

"Put it on me," I whispered to her, the intensity somewhat lessened, perhaps, by the lack of volume, but perhaps not, if Bella's shiver was anything to go by. I offered the ring finger of my right hand. I watched as her fingers tugged and gently pulled the token from its bed of satin. I watched as her fingertips reverently placed the ring on my finger.

With this ring, I thee wed, I thought. How many times had I heard that line, or one similar?

She had faced the swan inward, such that I would be able to glance down and see it, and it was just as I had hoped.

Bella's fingertip stroked the ring as it sat upon my hand. I watched her fingertip move as it stroked the metal, and I saw how pleasant it looked, the tone of the ring and the tone of my skin, the proportion of the ring to the size and length of my fingers. I'd never particularly liked my hands, but as her token sat there, finally I did. I could not indelibly mark my body with a swan from a needle and ink such that I could not remove it even if I wanted, but I could do this. I could take upon myself a token that was removable, but that I never would.

But then she spoke, and I was crushed.

"You probably shouldn't wear it much," she said softly. "At least, not around Charlie. He's pretty observant, and you're around him more and more. He'll notice. And he knows I don't have the kind of money to give you something like this. And I really don't want him to think badly of you. I mean, that you're trying to be presumptuous or something, by getting it yourself."

She made sense and I hated it. But then I had a thought.

"For now," I said. "But as of June 20th, I'm wearing it." I closed the ring box and put it on her side table. I crawled up Bella, holding myself on my elbows above her, looking down into her beautiful brown eyes. "It's my birthday present. You and Alice went in on it together. Charlie doesn't need to know where it came from, or that it's not made of silver."

_That reminds me. When do I get my own crest?_

I answered her in between kisses. "I think… Carlisle's decided… to give it to you… as part of… the wedding gift."

Bella hummed in happiness and we kissed each other slowly, deliciously for a long moment. But then I tugged her up, impatient to get out of our clothes. I pulled the comforter off of her bed and tossed it down to the floor between her bed and the window. I tossed one of her pillows down as well, up toward where her head would be.

Bella looked at me with an inquiring eyebrow quirked upwards. A slow grin spread across my face as I approached her, and then flesh against flesh, backed her up until we were standing in the middle of our makeshift and silent bed on the floor. With a mind of their own my hands ran slowly up and down the soft skin of her side. Her hands were stroking at my chest forming patterns in the musculature. Grabbing hold of her hips, I guided us as we sank down to our knees, and finally I kissed her.

_You're planning something. I can tell. Are you going to share with the class?_

I smiled in the midst of my kiss. I _was_ planning something. Tonight I was planning on seeing just how flexible Bella could be, but I didn't feel the need to tell her. She was about to experience it first hand, after all.

***  
End Chapter 12  
***

**End A/N: ** Okay artists… Who wants to draw me a picture? Edward with a determined look on his face, arms crossed defensively across his chest, leaning against the Swan's yellow cupboards with dinner half done on the counter, wearing a green 'Kiss the Cook' apron on over his haute couture. But seriously, what do you all make of the chapter? Favorite line? Love, gratitude and sparklepires (or werewolf cubs, depending on your preference) to those who review…

Also, come and play on the Twilighted thread with us. The addy is in my profile.


	23. The End of the Beginning

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Beta:** Thanks to Stratan for pinch hitting for me.  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.  
**Summary**: The day Edward finds his mate, his world grinds to a halt and starts spinning the other way 'round. Vampires mate for life, you know, and it's instantaneous, irrevocable, and irreversible. This is that story.

**Author's Note:** Gratitude and love to Stratan, who helped me through my writer's block, and Wannakee, who comes up with just the most inspirational images.

***  
Chapter 13: Yea… no.

**A/N:** Chapter thirteen will not be written, due to the fact that Bella doesn't need any more trouble. So, no… no one will ever know what happened with Edward in the Twinkie, though I'd love to hear your speculations. On to chapter fourteen.  
***

***  
Chapter 14: The End of the Beginning  
***

"_**EDWARD!" **_

I heard Alice scream at me in her mind and I pulled myself out of Bella's thoughts. I made no outward change in my demeanor as I sat in my second period class, except that I pulled my journal a little closer. Once she quickly shared the memory of a vision she'd just had, I pulled out of her mind before she could pull me under in a deluge of her commentary about it. I was stunned, and I needed the sanctuary of Bella's mind to have a little space to work it out in my head.

Safely ensconced, I began to write.

"_Thursday, March 24, 2005_

"_Alice called me out of Bella's head to share with me something she just saw. She had the strangest vision. We're all on the highway. There are three motorcycles and three cars. Carlisle and Esme are in a black Mercedes sedan with fully tinted windows, though not the same one they have now. He is the first car. Bella and I are in the Vanquish with the top down, and I can tell that she is already a vampire. In between the Mercedes and the Aston Martin is Rosalie's Tesla, with Emmett riding shotgun. In front of the three cars are the three motorcycles, two directly in front of Carlisle side-by-each, and one ahead of those, in the middle of the lane. Everyone has helmets on, full face, and everyone wears long pants, boots, and leather jackets, though each is a different style. The lead motorcycle is obviously Jasper and Alice, just given their body shape, but the other occupants of the two motorcycles between Jasper and Carlisle, four people who are obviously traveling with us, are a complete mystery._

"_Or perhaps they are not a complete mystery. Perhaps I am too afraid to acknowledge what I have seen. Dare I hope?_

"_No. Just for now I will not hope. I will simply observe. I have observed in this vision that the four unknown people on two motorcycles are couples – for each, the male figure is driving and the female figure is riding behind, embracing the former. The motorcyclist on the right is a huge man, roughly the size of Emmett, but possibly taller, and the woman behind him is more along the lines of Bella's build. The motorcyclist on the left is more normally proportioned, and the woman behind him slightly taller and larger than average, perhaps along the lines of Esme's build, but more solid._

"_All of us are riding down the highway, possibly the Interstate 90, from the look of it, and possibly in Wisconsin, and there is nothing out of the ordinary, until the woman on the motorcycle, the one with Esme's build, takes one of the hands that is holding on to her partner and taps him twice on his chest. Her partner, the motorist with the normal build reaches around a bare, pale hand to place his fingers along his partner's exposed neck. They stay like that for a moment before he replaces his hands on the handles of the motorcycle once more. Then he tilts his head slightly, not turning so much that he wouldn't be able to see the road, though his motorcycle, like Jasper's and the other, has never once deviated from the perfectly straight line they've been driving. And then he speaks. He speaks, and his voice is muffled, but he uses nothing more than a slightly raised voice. Through his helmet, through the rush of the wind, the sound of the engines, we can still hear him perfectly._

""_Hey, Mom. We lesser mortals are hungry, and we need to stretch our legs. And a bed would not go amiss at some point," says the man in a voice that sounds suspiciously familiar to my own._

""_Next exit, sweetheart," Bella replies next to me, nonchalantly rubbing her thumb over my knuckles as we hold hands over the middle console of the car._

"_It's an odd vision, obviously of a time many years in the future, just given the texture of the vision. Having such a vision, while not the norm for Alice, has been known to happen for incredibly important moments of her life – seeing Jasper, seeing the Cullens. _

"_It was a fleeting vision, quick, but strong and sharp. And yet for all of its brevity each and every detail is nonetheless etched into my memory – the style of each leather jacket, the exact shade of chestnut hair peeking out from under the helmet that the woman with Bella's stature wore. I would recognize that exact stretch of land the next time I crossed it and wondered if the next time I crossed it would be in that moment, many years from now._

"_I will never forget the familiar – no, not familiar, __intimate__ – way in which each of the unknown women held onto their motoring partner, leading me to believe that they were partners in more than one sense._

"_But I am dancing around the obvious. Bella and I will have a child. And perhaps more than one. We are going to have a child who will not be quite a vampire, but who will apparently have a sense of humor, which denotes that perhaps, at least, the child will not be wholly monstrous. We are going to have a child who will have found their own mate, perhaps, and perhaps two children who have both found mates – or perhaps we will have four children? That seems excessive, and the Bella who rode in the car next to me in the vision seems to be too young to have remained human long enough to have four children, given that we'll only be starting that process after we graduate from high school. Besides, I am fairly certain that the huge unknown male could not possibly come from our gene pool, and they way the couples were together, it didn't seem like they would be brother and sister, except perhaps in name._

"_Certainly we will have a son – a son! I never dreamed it possible. I want to name him Sebastian. Sebastian Swan Cullen? Maybe. Sebastian Edward? No. Sebastian Charles? Charles Sebastian? Perhaps. I wonder what Bella will say to that. Will we also have a daughter? I would love a daughter. We won't name her Renesmee – please Bella, let's just not do that. What about Marie? Or Elisabeth? So many beautiful names exist. We have at least two years to make up our minds. I quite like Elisabeth Marie. Even as I whisper it to myself, it rolls of my tongue beautifully. Elisabeth Marie, Elisabeth Marie._

"_But this isn't enough. We need more information. There has to be more information. This has to have happened before, if it can be happening now. Some vampire, some where, must have impregnated a human woman at some point in history. Clearly the process didn't hurt Bella or the child – or children, should I say – but we needed to know more… Somehow…_

"_I need to talk to Bella. I want to talk to her __right now__, but that won't do. Neither will Lunch, come to think of it. I desperately want to share this vision with her and find out what she thinks of it, but I'd prefer a bit more privacy. I just want to talk to her, hold her, look into her eyes as she thinks and speaks. I want to hear her reaction in the change of her heart beat. I want to be able to field her emotions, her excitement or her fear. I want to share my questions and hear hers. I want what I cannot have for another five hours, and it grates._

"_There are days when the façade is infuriating, and this is one of those days._

I sat back and stared out the window then, combing through the list of vampires that the family knew and picking out which ones might be likely to have run across a situation like ours. The Volturi were both the obvious choice and the obvious group to avoid. The less notice we draw, the better.

I tumbled through the names in my mind, assembling a rough idea of the best way to approach each one, and the timetables required to approach all of them, given if all or none of my family lent their aid. It pained me that I would be away from Bella for so long, but it couldn't be avoided.

When the bell rang, Alice met me almost at the door. She had an arch look on her face. She pulled me away from the door, linking her arm in mine and I came out of Bella's mind, inwardly cringing at the mental assault that was waiting for me from the three hundred and fifty minds that now surrounded me. It could be worse. I could be in a city. I tried to remind myself of that fact as I took a breath to calm myself.

_Edward! Are you with me now? You seem even tenser than before – you __**must**__ be out of her head._

I nodded.

_Okay, good. Now stop it! I mean it! You're over thinking things again, and you just need to stop. I have a plan, and we can hammer out the details later tonight – Jacob will only stay till after dinner – but you have to stop worrying. You won't need to leave Bella, and we'll still find out as much as we possibly can. You're not alone, you know, and you're not the only one who is good at strategy around here. So just stop it. And you __**should**__ tell Bella at lunch. You're only going to freak her out if you don't._

I shook my head. That was unacceptable.

_Seriously, Edward. She knows you better than you give her credit for. This news is… unsettling. It's good, but there are a lot of questions that come with it. That's natural. It's natural that it would unsettle you. Heck, it unsettled me, but if you think that Bella's not going to notice that… well, you've still got a lot to learn, my friend._

I scowled at Alice.

_Fine, fine. Don't take my advice. But we will all need to talk, after dinner. This doesn't just concern you and Bella, you know. This is my niece and nephew we're going to need to plan for._

And just then, a flash of a vision, there and gone in an instant. Two newborns, still covered in the gore of birth, umbilical cords still attached, the girl in my hands, the boy in Carlisle's.

Both Alice and I stopped right where we were, the flow of traffic slipping and sliding around us.

Bella was going to have twins. Twins that would grow up to travel with the family, with a sense of humor and a mate, each. It felt as if my stomach had just bottomed out. _I was capable of fathering normal children._

We just stood there, outside of the building in between one class and the next. I almost didn't hear Bella approach.

"Hey, you. Aren't you supposed to be in class?" She tugged on the cuff of my jacket sleeve as she passed me, then turned to give me a look. Alice very thoughtfully plucked my journal out of my hand as I turned my head toward the center of my universe.

I had no control over the smile that encompassed my features. We were going to have healthy, whole, sane, interesting children who were going to be able to live full lives. I would live to see Bella round with our twins. I would hold my daughter as she was born. The Olympic Coven was about to grow from seven to twelve within only a few short decades. I was going to be a _father._

Fully cognizant of what I was doing I took a deliberate step towards Bella, which caused her to pause in her own progress past me. My hands reached to cup the sides of her face and my fingers threaded through her hair. Without wiping the grin off my own face I leaned down and kissed her, putting all of my excitement and adoration into the action.

I wouldn't think until later that I kissed her without being in her mind, first.

I was vaguely aware of Alice chatting with Angela as the former blithely ignored us and the latter tried desperately to do the same. I was vaguely aware of moments passing us by as well as students, and I was not caught unawares by the bell ringing, announcing that we were now officially late for our next class. Even though I registered these things, I didn't really care about them. Bella was all there was. Bella, and the bright future that even now was unfolding before us, bit by bit by bit. I wanted it _all, _and as it turns out, I could have it, too.

I was made, as Emmett would be sure to put it, of _win._

Mid-kiss I slipped into Bella's mind and sunk in deeply, groaning a little and pulling her hips closer to mine as we stood outside.

"Um, should we, uh, maybe—" I heard Angela ask Alice.

"They'll be done in a minute. Don't worry. We'll only be a little late for class. No big deal," I heard Alice reply. "He has good news for her."

"Is he telling her in Morse code with his tongue?" asked Angela gently.

Alice just laughed. Bella didn't hear any of this – she was in another world, one where most of my attention was as well. In fact, the moment the bell rang, the moment I slipped into her mind it was all I cared about.

_Oh my god, Edward, Edward, Edward… _My sweet crooned nonsensical thoughts of love and I reveled in them as they tumbled around her mindscape, swirling in and out and repeating over and over, a twisting three-dimensional mantra of desire. I broke our kiss and licked her lips and then, as I pulled back licked my own.

_Edward, tell me you're inside. I can't stand the thought… I can't… _She ran her fingers through my hair. _I can't… I hate not knowing. _

I met her gaze and drowned in her eyes, but it wasn't enough of a reassurance for her. I leaned into her, past her lips until my own brushed against her ear.

"I'm so deep inside of you, love," I whispered. "It feels every bit as exquisite as it always does. And per usual I just want to devour you where you stand, but I have good news to share, so that will have to wait," I said, thinking of this afternoon when we might be making love, but should be talking.

_News? What news?_

"Alice thinks I should tell you at lunch—"

_Tell me now, you tease! _Bella pushed her body closer to mine.

"But I was hoping for more privacy. And there definitely isn't enough time, _now_."

_Lunch! Lunch! _Her fingers tightened in my hair and I knew she worked hard for me to feel that gentle tug._ Tell me at lunch and don't make me resort to drastic measures!_

I laughed low in my throat with my lips still pressed against her ear. "I'd like to see what you come up with." In fact, I was still waiting to see what her version of talking dirty would look like. She said I was a tease, but she had no idea how true that statement was, pinned on her.

Bella leaned back then, holding me at arms length. "Oh… would you?" she asked aloud. Her eyes were narrowed. She was trying to come up with ways to embarrass me in the cafeteria, and her initial thoughts were ridiculous. She dismissed them all almost immediately. I smirked and laughed at her.

"Time to go to class," Alice gently reminded us.

I grinned at Bella as I began to walk away from her, walking backwards next to Alice so I could still see her as she, too, walked away, frequently looking back over her shoulder to playfully scowl at me.

_Edward! Baby, you know I don't love surprises. Why won't you just tell me? Why do you have to tease me like this? I had no idea you had it in you to be so mean…_

Now she was pouting, but it was more effective in person when I could see that luscious bottom lip beautifully pink and full of blood from the irritation of her nibbling on it.

Still, fifteen minutes from the end of her Spanish class, and my dear, sweet, reasonably innocent Bella had, in fact, come up with the perfect dramatic measure. I got a flash of her realization, but it didn't really make sense until she put it into words for me.

_Edward. Sweetheart. I'd really like to hear what good news you have to share as soon as it is possible for you to tell me. I'd really like to hear it at lunch. But if you don't want to tell me, well, I do understand. But you should know that if you don't tell me, it may be possible that my mind, not otherwise engaged, could wander. It may be possible if you don't tell me, that I'll simply imagine what good news it might be. And you know how my imagination can get away from me, sometimes. In fact, my mind could quite accidentally wander into all sorts of naughty zones that I really shouldn't fantasize about during school, knowing that when you sit so closely to me you're usually inside, knowing how it affects you, knowing how hard – oh, I __**am**__ sorry – how __**difficult**__ it can be for you when I do that._

I looked down at my journal, grinning. I couldn't decide whether or not to tell her at lunch now, but for new reasons. I rather liked this side of Bella.

It would be three hours of more or less intense fantasy in which I could get a very interesting insight into Bella's desires, followed by possibly some quick and mind-blowing sex, but possibly not. In fact, it was possible, given the fact that Jacob was coming over and the postprandial family conversation Alice had scheduled, that there would be no sex in my immediate future – not until much later tonight, or even tomorrow morning, if Bella was still feeling feisty and masochistic. There wouldn't be a time when I'd need to be out of Bella's head, so she wouldn't be in danger, and to be honest, I'd just like to see her try to fantasize about me while playing badminton.

I grinned wider, my mind made up.

_I wonder what it's like, to watch a full sensory pornographic fantasy in which you yourself star, but have no control over. It's different than watching TV, right? I mean, you mentioned once; it's like being the third wheel in the room…_

It wasn't quite full sensory, but I saw no reason for disabusing Bella of that notion right away. I'm sure it would come up at some point.

_Hmm, this has a lot of potential, Edward, but it's no fair being cranky about it, just so you know. I mean, you can choose to tell me at lunch and you won't have to deal with a single one of my fantasies, not one. Not the one of you bending me over our biology lab table, not the one where you're all chained up… nope, you won't have to deal with anything like that. But if you decide not to tell me, well Edward, you'll have made that decision with eyes wide open, so there's no use in complaining about it afterwards, understand?_

Oh, I understood.

Bella was very good for the last ten minutes of class before lunch. She paid attention and conjugated irregular verbs in the pluperfect. I met her at the door.

She craned her neck up as she reached me. _Just a little kiss, please._

One hand on her waist, I complied. A lingering press of lips against lips, and then we parted. I licked my lips, savoring the taste of her.

_Oh, Edward, _she thought, looking at me intensely. _You have no idea what that does to me._

I had an idea, actually.

She took a deep breath and shook her head a little, as if to clear it. I liked that she got dazed sometimes, just thinking about the two of us together. If my heart were able to beat that information would have made it trip.

We walked to lunch in silence and Bella dropped her bag off at our table. I noticed that Alice and Jasper where in the seats that Bella and I usually occupied. I raised an eyebrow at my favorite pixie, but she just smiled back at me. I didn't have to read her mind. Alice and Jasper had a favorite position on that bench that they had vacated. Jasper sat behind Alice, straddling the bench and facing the rest of the cafeteria, usually wrapping his arms around Alice as she, too, straddled the bench, leaning back against them. Today they took _our_ seats and _our_ stances. The obvious implication was that today we should copy Alice and Jasper's trade of both seat and body position.

Really, if Bella was serious in her threat, it would be nice to spend the hour with my cock pressed against her lower back, as I was sure to be hard rather quickly.

We went through the line. I guessed correctly that Bella would want pizza, the fresh raw vegetables, and a half pint of skim milk. I got an extra slice of pizza for me and paid at the register. Bella didn't even blink at it, but I wasn't surprised. She let me buy groceries now – a four dollar lunch was nothing compared to that. Still, I celebrated the little victories where I could.

On the return journey to our table with my free hand at the small of her back – she honestly could trip on flat surfaces without much trouble – she finally spoke aloud.

"So you are going to tell me now, or make me wait?"

"I think I'd like to tell you later," I replied calmly. I was thrilled about all of these things, but kept my excitement on the inside.

Reaching the table, before Bella could sit down I did so, arranging my body as Jasper usually did, and then I gently pulled her down after me, setting the tray on the table last of all.

_Oh, so this is how it's going to be then, huh?_

I grinned. "Apparently."

"Are you _sure?"_ she asked softly.

"Quite," I said softly, enunciating the word clearly in her ear. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her snuggly back toward me until we were cleaved, shoulder to shoulder, chest and abdomen to back, and groin to ass. It was good.

"Alright then, _fine," _she said quietly, but with some emphasis. She opened her milk but set it back on her tray. She picked up her pizza and eyed it before taking a bite. Suddenly her mind was incredibly active.

In her mind the cafeteria was cleared, empty, silent. One moment we were sitting as we were just at present, the next minute I had my hand down her pants, my fingers buried in her as far as they could reach. She was moaning my name. I was hard against her in her fantasy, and it was quickly becoming true in reality as well.

Bella imagined me thrusting against her, kissing her neck as I slowly brought her to completion with my fingers.

Bella calmly ate her pizza while she imagined our clothes removed suddenly. She was standing, bent over the lunch table and I was taking her from behind, vigorously. She was screaming and moaning my name intermixed with obscenities. When she imagined herself coming, fantasy Bella threw her head back, her hair tossing gloriously around her shoulders. The mirror in our bedroom had given Bella a very good perspective on how it looked when I took her from behind and she remembered quite well. She imagined perfectly how we fit together, how it looked when I grasped her hips firmly yet gently, anchoring myself with her body. She imagined to a 'T' how it looked and I had to take a moment to adjust myself because watching my own ass flex, watching my hands hold onto her hips as mine slammed into her, watching my slick cock sliding in and out of what I knew to be the hottest, wettest, tightest slice of heaven on earth was just a little overwhelming.

I had to close my eyes. I turned my face into her hair and breathed in her delicious scent. I couldn't get enough of her. It was impossible to get enough of her.

I groaned a little when she imagined me talking dirty to her as I slammed into her, punctuating each pause with a hard thrust.

"_My pretty Bella. So sweet, so hot. You __**like**__ my cock, don't you? Don't you? You like it when we fuck, don't you? You'd spend your days sucking my cock if you could, wouldn't you? Such a greedy, lascivious little girl, aren't you? You're quite the little cum bunny, aren't you? But no, that's not true, is it? You're mine. Just mine. Only ever mine. You're __**my**__ cum bunny. Come to think of it, you're my blood bunny, too."_

And then she saw me leaning over her and biting into her shoulder more roughly than I would ever, _ever_ dare to, and drinking greedily, eagerly, mouthful after mouthful as we both came, hard.

"Is that the best you can do?" I asked Bella softly in her ear, taunting her.

Suddenly in her mind's eye we were in our bed and I was spread wide, naked and aroused, my wrists and ankles in heavy manacles with thick, heavy chains that trailed off the sides of the bed. I was blindfolded with the silk tie I'd worn to the Spring Dance. Settled just below Apollo's Belt, I noticed, was my own from Tiffany's that I had yet to receive in reality. Bella lounged just next to me, but not touching me. She propped her head on her hand as she lay on her side and she whispered all the delightful things she imagined me doing to her. Intermittently my fantasy self begged her to touch me, but she only ever would run her fingers lightly over the platinum chain at my waist.

In the fantasy, Bella was whispering other fantasies to me, but she was picturing them also, and I could follow both tracks of her mind. I saw it when she described how she imagined fucking in a tree might work. I saw it when she described cuddling under a blanket while we watched TV with her father, while I brought her off with my fingers. I saw it when she described the two of us on a boat somewhere off an imaginary tropical island, I saw it as she described in detail our lazy love, and then as she had me hop overboard with half a bloody fish in my hand – the only likely way she would ever see me hunting while she was still human, and I had to give it to her, it wasn't a bad idea, even if her imagination didn't quite cover how I might eat a shark, or the fact that I'd like more than one. But then as she imagined lying by my manacled self on our bed, she regaled to me what I would look like, pulling myself out of the water and back onto the boat. She told me what the sight of me did to her, me; dripping wet, sated, eyes a bright gold and body shimmering in the sun. It turned her on, and on, and on. It made her heart beat and her throat catch. It made her stomach drop. It made her mouth water. It made her wet and so ready for me to take her hard from behind.

She whispered these delightful imaginings to my fantasy self, chained to our bed until in the fantasy I whined and begged her for release, much like I had once upon a time, the very first time, lying on the forest floor with her body stretched out above me, my hands thrust deep into the dirt, and her lovely, delicious, hot hand down my pants and wrapped for the very first time around my cock. In the fantasy, Bella just smiled and trailed one hot fingertip up the underside of my engorged cock. Then she started talking again, lightly touching my tip, swirling light, abstract patterns in the drop of precum that leaked from the slit.

"_You know, baby, I never meant to torture you. The monster is all chained up, but not because you've been bad. __**Quite**__ the contrary, you've been very, very, very good. I never meant to hold out on you, only I was so excited to tell you about everything I want, just like you said. And you know how distracted I get when we touch. I was just afraid I'd never tell you everything."_

The minx was still drawing abstract patterns on my cock in her fantasy, belying her words entirely.

I spoke, then, in the fantasy. I growled, actually, then I spoke. _"Bella, baby, then please let me come. Just wrap your lips around my cock and suck, just once. Just once, baby. I'm so close, I'm so hard, I don't need any blood, oh God, I just need you. Please. __**Please.**__ Please, please, baby. Please let me come. Please suck my cock. I know you like it, I know you want it, too. I know I taste good to you. God, Bella, I need you so much. Please, I'm so hard for you. Please, my cock is so hard it aches."_

In reality, holding Bella close to me with both of my arms wrapped tightly around her waist as she calmly ate through her pizza and started on her slices of raw vegetables, I growled lowly in her ear.

"Much better," I whispered. "Knew you had it in you."

"Not yet, I don't," she mumbled around a carrot stick. The family broke out into quiet snickers and Bella blushed slightly.

I was purring behind her now, and I knew she could feel the vibrations through her body. "I have to admit," I whispered gently into her ear. "I kind of like this side of you, _bunny."_

I heard Emmett snort at the endearment, but he had no idea.

Bella shivered. _Cum bunny or blood bunny?_

"Either," I said. "Or both," I quickly amended.

_So does this mean you give in? Will you tell me now?_

"Never," I hissed before sucking the lobe of her ear into my mouth and caressing it with my tongue.

_No fair nicking my ear and coming without me._

"Not to mention the mess," I pointed out softly, releasing her ear to do it.

_That, too._

"So, do you give in?" I asked quietly, my smile present in my voice.

"Never," she replied, mimicking my previous tone.

"Lead on, then," I said as she picked up her milk. I kissed her neck as she drank. As she drank, she plunged us back into the sea of her fantasies where I would happily drown.

We fucked in a tree. I took her against an outcropping of stone in the forest. I had her on her hands and knees on the sheepskin fleece in the living room. I fucked her in the shower. She came against my bedroom door. She imagined quite acrobatic sex in the cab of her truck, parked at school with people wandering around outside, oblivious. I ate her out in the locker room before and after gym, which she imagined would be the only thing to make badminton bearable. I had her bent over my piano. I had her bent over the back of the sofa. I had her bent over in the shower – different than the first time where she'd wrapped her legs around my waist. I had her bent over on the bed, her hands gripping the headboard as I fucked her from behind.

"I'm beginning to see a pattern," I whispered to her, picking up her napkin and wiping the corners of her mouth before gently wiping off each fingertip, one by one. She was finished with her lunch, and we still had a bit of time before Biology. She had been eating slowly today. Usually she finished much, much earlier.

"Took you long enough," she muttered.

Taking Bella from behind was definitely one of my favorite positions. Before today I knew that she enjoyed it as well, but as of today I think _enamored_ would be a better way to describe it.

I sighed. I was so hard, I really did want to lose myself in her right now, but there was something utterly delicious about this game we were playing. I wouldn't give it up, regardless of the fact that walking to our next class in my current state of startling arousal would be a deeply uncomfortable endeavor.

Palms against the backs of her hands, my fingers laced in hers, I rewrapped my arms around her waist, bringing her arms right along with me. I leaned and rested my chin against her shoulder. I closed my eyes to the rest of the world and breathed deeply, my nose buried in her hair. If I could have closed my sense of hearing off as well, somehow, I would have been utterly complete in my Bella-centric universe.

We were making slow, languorous love in her head, now, and she was in the middle of orgasm in the fantasy, her fingers in my hair, her long, lean legs around my waist as I rose up above her, pushing in slowly, grinding my hips against hers as I bottomed out. Fantasy Bella whispered her words of devotion and adoration and they fell from her lips like drops of liquid sunshine. At the tail end of her orgasm the sounds she made trailed off into muted mewls and harsh sighs.

_I love you, Edward,_ I heard her think above and beyond the fantasies she was spinning.

I marked the fact that Rosalie had stood, but ignored the condition we were putting Jasper in. Carnal lust was easier than the blood lust, and I'm sure Alice would be thanking me later on.

"Time to go," I said.

Before we even rose from our seat, Bella had me fucking her from behind over the biology lab table in her head. I recalled one of the first dreams of hers to which I'd been privy, the dream that dealt with vampire mating habits and had Rosalie and Emmett in the missionary position on the instructor's table, silently and unobtrusively having sex while no one seemed to notice. I laughed quietly as we made our way across the room, despite the extreme discomfort the state of my cock afforded me. Laughter, however, was the wrong response to Bella's fantasy.

_What the…? You don't want to hear about it?_ There was fire in her response, but I was surprised when it seemed to sputter out on its own. _Well, nevermind._

And then there was nothing. And then there was everything.

Bella's mind went uncharacteristically silent – utterly silent, not even the underlying nebulous thought patterns and textures to keep me company – the moment before I was forcibly rejected from it.

The scent of her blood punched me in the gut, outweighing even the mental onslaught of the school full of voices, my family's voice, Jasper's voice, Alice's voice. I gasped and stopped our progress across the cafeteria. I stopped breathing, but my throat was already on fire. The damage was done, and I had two options: Bella, or the woods. I tried to sink into Bella's mind, but it wasn't working. _It wasn't working._

Alice and Jasper were by my side immediately, and each had a hand on my shoulders, restraining me already. Emmett had come up opposite us, with Rosalie next to him.

My entire family knew of my fall. My shame was complete. But I wouldn't. I couldn't. I would run, first. I would never hurt Bella, never. I would _die_, first.

Yet all of this happened before Bella could even turn around, and when she did, the hurt was written across her features. Before she could register anything but the most basic confusion, however, Emmett had taken her gently by the shoulders and pulled her backwards, away from me until our hands were forced apart, until Bella was partially behind him. I saw Rose holding on lightly to her shoulders. I saw the question in Bella's eyes. I was certain that she was thinking at me, but there was nothing there, no thought, no question, no fantasy. There was only silence where my sanctuary ought to be.

"Bella, please," I begged. "Whatever you just did to shut me out, please let me back into your mind." And that was the last of my air.

My sweet girl looked so lost, as if she couldn't quite track what was going on, as if she needed more time to understand, but I wouldn't know. I wasn't sure. I could only guess, and it left me cold. She was smart, she was observant and insightful, but she was only human. She needed time to work through this, I'd be willing to bet, but I didn't have time just now. My skin was crawling with the warring desires to run, or to drink without ceasing. I knew precisely how delicious her blood was and I could imagine with ease swallowing down mouthful after mouthful until I was completely and utterly satiated.

Alice spoke.

"Bella, try to relax. You trust Edward. You love Edward. Whatever spooked you isn't bigger than your love. Think about how much you adore him and take a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Good, again. Deep breath. Breathe in your love for him. Breathe out your love for him. Now relax, and let him slip back into your mind. You don't have to be wide open, just open enough for him to slip back in. You can trust him. He won't ever hurt you. Just concentrate on how much you love him.

…_so much. Edward, I'm so sorry, I love so much. Edward I'm so sorry, I love you so much. Edward I'm so sorry, I love you so much._

I gasped, relief flooding me. The bloodlust drained away and I could no longer hear the thoughts of fear and confusion from my family, only Bella's contrite mantra. My eyes met hers and the hands that restrained us fell away, starting with Jasper's. Bella took two halting and awkward steps toward me before I wrapped my arms around her and her backpack and held her securely.

_**Oh my god, Edward, I'm so sorry!**_ Her tone was utterly broken and I wasn't surprised to smell her tears. I raised one hand to the back of her head and rested my cheek against her hair. _I don't know what happened, _she thought clearly before her mind melted into incoherency marked by the vague thoughts of her wretchedness and guilt.

"Hush, hush," I crooned softly. "It's not your fault, and everything is okay now. Hush…"

_Yes it is! It is my fault! I somehow kicked you out, and… and…_

"No, it's not your fault," I said softly, ignoring the people walking around us. "My hunger is not your fault."

_Oh my god, it is my fault, it's all my fault, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, Edward…_

I didn't know what to say, but she was crying and inconsolable. My own shame paled in comparison to what she was going through. I held her as our family stood in a protective unit around us. We were not yet late to Biology, but it was going to be an awkward rest of the day.

And then, I thought of what to say.

"Bella, we're going to get through this and everything is going to be fine. Alice had a vision this morning, two actually," I whispered in her ear. Somehow, right now, it felt perfectly right to say this with nearly all of our family around us, protecting us from the outside world. "One day, Bella, _someday_ you and I are going to have twins."

Rosalie and Emmett gasped simultaneously.

"A boy and a girl, and they'll be healthy and whole and grow up to find mates of their own. They will love and be loved, Bella. They won't be monsters."

Bella just held onto me all the harder. "Really?" she asked, her voice weak and wavering. _You don't think you might not be better off without me?_

"Never, never, never, never, never, never, never," I chanted softly to her, beginning to rock her back and forth. "You are the center of my universe. Without you there is no reason to continue. You carry with you all that is beautiful and worthwhile. If you leave, you take it with you. Please don't consider it."

_Okay. Okay._

I wiped away her tears before we walked to Biology, hand in hand.

Her fantasies continued, but they were different now. They were softer and not remotely sexual in tone. Bella just wanted to be held. I did what I could – I pulled my lab stool right next to hers and perched on it, leaning back slightly so I could wrap my left arm around her waist, the sides of our bodies pressing against one another. When she calmed slightly, she imagined wearing her engagement ring to class. I grinned at her very elaborate imagination – just as elaborate as her other, racier fantasies had been. Sitting in her first class when Jessica Stanley notices and plays up to her, acting as if they'd been best friends all this time in an attempt to get Bella to confide details. In this fantasy, Bella ignores Jessica entirely, something I know she would not do in reality. When Angela Weber notices, Bella does elaborate. With the most endearing and dreamy smile, Bella explains very simply that we are engaged. At lunch, Bella imagines Angela approaching our table and congratulating me. I notice in the fantasy that my own ring has been switched to the appropriate finger of my left hand, clearly and obviously acting as the promise ring that it is.

It's hard to describe what seeing this fantasy does to me. After dealing with Bella's reticence concerning marriage and most particularly public declarations of the same, to see her fantasize about going public, about being seen by her peers like this, wearing my ring… it's deeply moving.

On to the next fantasy, Bella imagined waddling around the living room, demanding pickles and chocolate ice cream. I watched as she sat down next to Emmett as he watched the Food Network, providing commentary on whether or not she'd eat something like what was being demonstrated on cable. I can hear myself calling from the kitchen, clarifying if she wanted the pickles with the ice cream, or separate from the ice cream.

In the next fantasy Bella wasn't pregnant at all, but it was similar to the afternoon of the Spring Dance. She imagined sitting on my lap as I fed her savory tidbits. I had one arm wrapped around her center, anchoring her securely to me, and one hand free to usher the bite sized hors d'oeuvres to her lips. I watched as she chewed slowly, savoring each bite, moaning a little each time, and licking her lips, and my finger tips in between bites.

I watched as Bella imagined that our son would look just like me, and our daughter like her mother. I held her closer at that. The very thought of it still stunned me in every kind of good way. I was going to be a father. We were going to have children. Our entire family was going to experience the joy of children in the home. Babysitting, I thought, would never be an issue… I was stunned all over again and what an outpouring of love our children would experience. I was somewhat alarmed that she still wanted to name our daughter Renesmee, however, and that part of the fantasy jarred me slightly. I decided not to argue it with her today.

Her fantasies were a source of comfort for both of us all throughout the penultimate period of the day.

After walking her to the Gymnasium I went to join Emmett in Spanish class, though my heart was not in it, less so even than usual. After what had happened at the end of lunch, Emmett knew better than to even consider distracting me from my thoughts of Bella, and though I couldn't quite reach all the way inside her from this distance, I could listen, and I did.

My sweet, innocent Bella was daydreaming about the tattoo she still insisted was a good idea. I waffled on the subject; it was incredibly flattering, and yet also incredibly permanent. Would she live to regret it? She certainly didn't think that would be the case. Initially she had imagined the Cullen crest on her hip. She wondered now if she should get something even more personal – a tattooed version of the Tiffany locket she'd yet to actually give me, the one inscribed 'Belongs to Bella'.

At this point, her thoughts became less tame, and the free association began to mount. She wondered if the change would do something to the ink dye. She wondered if the tattoo would sparkle, or turn purple, or get eaten off during the transformation. She had a vague and nagging memory that she would remain the same in every single way, exactly the same from the day of her transformation. She neglected to remember that injuries would be healed, but she did have the basic idea. I was surprised where her mind decided to take that basic idea, however.

Bella was worried about shaving. She wanted to make sure that her legs were shaved, and her armpits. She worried about her bikini line, and then worried about worrying about her bikini line, as this was apparently a first-time worry of hers. She wondered if she was starting to become shallow, but thought that the likelihood of her wearing a bikini sometime in the next millennia was probably pretty high, and wondered if an ounce of prevention might be worth twelve tons of cure somewhere down the line.

And then she got hit in the face with the badminton shuttlecock.

I put one hand up to shield my face and managed to keep silent, but my shoulders shook with my laughter. Only my Bella could find herself in precisely this situation. I composed myself quickly and resumed my stance of near attention to my surroundings and utter attention to Bella.

_That's what I get for worrying about my bikini line! I wonder if Alice has an opinion on this. Probably not. I mean, she and Rosalie, and Esme for that matter, are from a completely different time. Did women shave then? I'm pretty sure they didn't. Huh. How weird is that to contemplate? I mean, Edward has hair, but he's supposed to have hair. He's a guy. I wonder if the hair on his body was always that soft and fine? Huh. I'll have to ask him._

_Oh, wait._

_Um, baby? Do you know… um… if… Oh, God, I can't believe I'm asking this. Oh, never mind. It doesn't really matter. Maybe he wasn't listening. Yea, maybe he wasn't listening._

_Right, Swan. In what world do you have that sort of luck? He was totally listening and now he thinks you're a shallow, idiotic freak obsessed with body hair, even though you're not. I'm not, baby. I swear, I'm not._

I kept my laughter in better, this time.

The rest of the hour passed in a similar fashion. First Bella resolved to ask me, then Bella quailed, then Bella floundered under a wave of angst, then Bella sustained some sort of mild injury to her person or her pride in class. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

The first topic was body hair, but then she quickly moved on to questions of excrement during the change (thank you, Anne Rice), how much ejaculate was too much to consume, either as a human or a vampire, if we really and truly could have sex for two weeks straight once she was turned, and what that might entail, and finally, what sort of odd cravings she was going to have to endure while pregnant, given that our twins would not only be hers, but _mine._

I had no good answers to the last one, though I do admit it bears consideration, even if it did lead Bella to nearly trip over her own badminton racquet.

I met Bella after The Grand Humiliation, as she had begun only just today to call her last class, and I took up her hand in mine, placing a small kiss in the palm. She look a little weary, but I couldn't resist the grin that slowly curled over my lips in a somewhat lopsided manner.

"I don't think you're a freak," I pointed out very softly.

Bella closed her eyes and whined. "Let's just go."

Our fingers laced together as we made our way out, first to her locker and then to my car.

"When do you think Rosalie is going to be finished with my truck?" Bella asked as we made our way across the student lot.

I shrugged. I hadn't been keeping track. "A week, ten days. Are you getting sick of me so quickly?"

Bella bumped me with her shoulder as we walked. "Get real. I just want my truck back." She grinned up at me then, unexpectedly, as her thoughts heralded nothing, being simply calm and soothing to me as they usually were, a testimony to her contentedness. "Soon I'll be able to pick _you_ up for school."

I raised a single eyebrow but said nothing. It was much easier to overcome the gender bias of my century of birth than it was the idea that we would have to spend more time in that truck of hers, no matter what masterpiece it might be once Rosalie was finished with it. Also, there was the extra time involved for Bella to have to drive out to the house – one assumes at the legally posted speed – and back into town again, but it wasn't a point I felt I needed to argue. Best to save up my persuasive capital for something that really mattered, like the decision on how we'll name our yet-to-be-conceived children.

I grinned spontaneously. I was going to be a _father_. I reflected briefly that this was probably going to make me smile quite spontaneously for the next ten years.

Bella gave me a challenging look. "What's going on in that head of yours?" she asked quietly. I smiled, but before I could answer, Alice approached us. I opened the door to the back passenger seat as she came closer so I could put Bella's things inside. I had just enough time to shut the door, lean back against it and pull Bella flush against me, my hands on her hips and hers on my chest. I had shifted my height lower, due to my position leaning against the car, and it put us almost at the perfect place together. I sent, not for the first time, a silent prayer of thanks that it was only my legs that were longer and not my torso, when compared to Bella's frame. I had ten inches on her but once our hips were lined up, so were our mouths. It was perfect, really.

I could feel the heat of her hands, even through the ice blue cotton sweater that Alice chose for me today, and the gentle pressure of her body as she stood so closely, standing between my legs. The excruciating hardness that was evidence of my arousal during lunch had, over the course of the last two hours, very slowly subsided, but it was beginning to return, again. Really, there was never a time I _didn't _want Bella. There were only lulls, periods where I would prefer to languidly nibble than voraciously devour. I was currently in a nibbling mood. Had Alice not been around and about to command our attention, I might have started.

We both turned our heads toward Alice when she stopped very close to us.

"I know you guys have a lot to talk about. You have an hour and forty-two minutes before Jacob arrives at the house. He'll need to get home shortly after dinner, and I think he'll end up spending most of the time in the garage, quite happily."

I was dubious, I admit, but unwilling to completely disbelieve my favorite prescient pixie.

"Thank you, Alice," Bella responded quietly.

I leaned down to catch the sweetness of Bella's lips, intent on my mission to nibble just a little bit before our talk.

She moaned in her mind. _I guess this means we have a little time for everything, tonight. Our talk, a little meet and greet with Jacob, some alone time, dinner, homework, and the family meeting afterwards. Don't you think we should get going?_

Her actions belied her thoughts as she raised one hand to the back of my head, her fingers combing through my hair, her nails scratching deliciously before her hand fisted and released, fisted and released. She knew it drove me crazy. If she really was intent on stopping immediately, perhaps she ought not do things she knows turn me on immensely.

So I purred, instead of stopping.

Once such a foreign thing to me, purring, it was now as easy as breathing when Bella was around. Still, I kept our kiss light, teasing, a gentle sampling nibble in the face of the immaculate feast that was my love and my life.

The gentle ebb and flow of Bella's mind was all focused on the pleasure she was feeling. It was incoherent, but it was clear to me _why _it was incoherent, even though I could not sense her feelings directly.

Finally I ended the kiss, giving her lower lip one last lick. My hands still massaged her hips and I kept purring a moment more.

Bella moaned audibly, though softly. She licked her lips and opened her eyes, taking a deep breath.

_So good._

"Hi," she said.

I grinned slowly at her. The purring trailed off. While I could growl and yell at the same time – though I ended up sounding like a mountain lion gifted with the English language when I did – I didn't even want to try speaking and purring. I was sure to sound foolish.

"Hello," I responded softly. I took one hand from her hip and opened the passenger side door, pushing it open for her. Bella brushed her lips across mine one more time before sliding into the car. When we got home she wasn't thrilled about going for a run, but I didn't want to waste time and did want privacy. I stopped at the foot of a perfect tree. Still holding Bella in front of me, cradled to my chest I jumped up from the ground and then twice more from limb to limb until I reached the perfect place to stop. I sat then, and helped to arrange Bella so that she was comfortable.

_Is there a reason we're sitting in a tree?_

I shrugged. "I like sitting in trees."

Bella gave me a look. "Of course you do." She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Okay, tell me everything."

I did. I started with the second vision first. There was no sense of when the action would occur, but I tried my best to describe my own elation at holding one of our children – bloody, crying, but _beautiful_and oh-so tiny. I searched my memory for tiny details, the likes of which weren't in my focus the first time around, but which of course I had remembered. I told Bella that it was clear she had a cesarean section, and that the cut looked clean, but not as if it had been done with a scalpel. Carlisle was there, holding the other child, but it seemed as if others were as well, many others. There was a very odd smell in the room – there were a great many smells, actually, and as I began to tease them out, one from another I became more and more surprised and confused. I could recognize almost everyone in the room.

Carlisle was there, and Rosalie. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Esme were not. Charlie was there.

Bella looked at me, her face displaying a shock that my own mirrored, I was sure.

There was a vampire in the room I had never before met and did not recognize by scent alone.

Most shocking of all – perhaps even more so than Bella's father being in the room, though perhaps only neck and neck with that shock – there were two werewolves in the room.

"What do you think it means?" she asked.

I shook my head slowly. I didn't know. I had no idea. I should have taken the time to think about this in the hours before our conversation, but I had been so shocked and thrilled with the first vision which had so many visual components and so many implications of its own that I'd never thought to seriously parse and analyze the second vision. When I saw the second vision, I was simply so overwhelmed with the thought of holding my own healthy infant in my hands that nothing else about the vision seemed to matter, even though it was just like any of Alice's visions – rich with sensory data.

But… holy shit.

It had never been clear to me if Bella could even survive the process of carrying our children, and always in the back of my head was the thought that labor might be too much for her. Clearly if she was going to have a cesarean section, labor was _going_ to be too much for her, but whether or not the process would require her immediate change would be anyone's guess. Still, it was part of my contingency plan. I wondered briefly about injecting venom directly into her heart. I would have to ask Carlisle about that.

And yet, her father knew, was present for the birth.

And the birth was going to be too much for her.

And her father was going to be present for the birth.

And she might need to be changed directly afterwards.

"I think your father must know… we must have told him… about us," I said, wondering how much we told him, how Charlie took the news, how one broaches this sort of topic with one's future father-in-law, and if one does it before the secret marriage or after. I wondered about the Volturi.

_What part of us? There are a lot of things we're keeping from Charlie – how serious our relationship is, the fact that I've agreed to marry you in September, the fact that sometime in the near future instead of going off to Dartmouth I'll be becoming a vamipre…_

I sat quietly, close to the near-stillness of a shocked vampire. "All of it. None of it. I have no idea, Bella. But the birth… it could be dangerous. That could be when we need to change you, and if your father's in the room… Then he must know that."

_Whoh. Yeah. Um, shit._

We sat together in silence, just holding each other for a while.

"What about the… um… werewolves?"

"No idea," I said. "I haven't seen any werewolves in sixty years. I think they must have died out, as they certainly don't seem to be in the Quileute tribe anymore."

_Apparently not._

I snorted. "No, apparently not."

_Why do you think they're there? I mean, like, in a friendly capacity?_

I seriously doubted it. I shrugged. Technically I had no idea, though I'm not sure my imagination could stretch so far as to imagine we'd have werewolf midwives.

_Was there anything else?_

I searched through the memory of the vision again and smiled. Heartbeats. There were twin heartbeats, almost impossible to discern one from another as they beat at the same rate, at the same time. The only true way to discern was to realize that I was hearing the same heartbeat in stereo, from two different sources. But they weren't fast enough to be the heartbeat of a human infant – they were slow and steady, like the heartbeats of the werewolves. Which meant that either our children were unhealthy, or not completely human. I decided to vote for not completely human, as it seemed the obvious choice.

"Heartbeat," I whispered. "The twins have a heartbeat. It's slow. They're not entirely human, I don't think. But they're healthy." I didn't in fact know this, but I decided to say it anyway. "And they have a heartbeat."

I went on to describe the other vision. In this one, so detailed visually, there were almost no other sensory clues as to information not seen, as we were out on the interstate with the top down on the Vanquish. But I was certain now that my infant son had grown up to be the motorcyclist on the left, the one with my stature and my voice, the one who called out to his mother about stopping for food and for a stretch. I was certain that my infant daughter was the motorcyclist on the right, sitting behind the massive figure of man. The chestnut hair that draped down her back underneath the helmet blended in almost perfectly with her brown leather jacket, but it was a perfect match for Bella's beautiful hair.

_Did we seem happy?_

I smiled and leaned in to kiss her. Many moments later I leaned away again. "Yes, love, we did."

_We're really going to have children. Twins. Together. You and me. And it's going to be okay. And maybe… maybe we're not going to need to fake my death, because Charlie is going to know. Maybe it will be enough that I'm away for college for several years._

Bella rested her head against my shoulder then and we were silent again.

I breathed in her scent in the silence of the forest, which was no silence at all, but the unceasing call of birds and tiny movement of life all around us. I listened in peace at the sound of the feral cat chasing the squirrel, of the shifting of the leaves on the trees and the steady, meditative drum of Bella's heart. Her mind was peaceful and silent as we sat together, her mind embracing me as my body embraced her. In the midst of a turbulent day, this moment was bliss.

"It's time," I said, three minutes before Jacob was due to arrive at the house. I shifted Bella slightly so I could stand up and make my way back down to the ground before running with her. I stopped just before the tree line and we walked out together, hand in hand just as Jacob was pulling up to the front of the house.

"Whoh." Jacob looked up at the large white Victorian style house that we called home here in the Olympic Peninsula. He was slack-jawed.

I stuck out my right hand, still holding onto Bella with my left. "Jacob," I said, shaking his hand. "Welcome to our home. Would you like a tour, or would you prefer to meet Rosalie in the garage, first?"

I watched as the wolf cub took in the expansive nature of our mansion home. "Um, how about the garage first?" I watched as Jacob looked at Bella. "Hey," he said to her, nodding, sticking his hands deep in his pockets with all the awkwardness of his teen years.

"Hey," Bella responded happily and calmly.

"Come on, it's this way," I said, indicating with a tilt of my head and tugging Bella's hand along with me. Jacob followed in silence until we actually got to the outbuilding that served as our garage. It had only two bay doors but room to maneuver and store four more cars that we actually maintained at present, even counting Bella's ancient truck as the sixth of our fleet, a thought that truly galled my inner car snob.

I sighed inwardly.

After Rosalie very kindly had the conversation with Bella concerning her role in the family and the concept of graciously accepting gifts from loved ones, Bella was also aware that I would prefer her truck crushed into a small ball and serving as a garden sculpture instead of in a drivable condition. You win some, you lose some, Emmett had said. You utter and complete snob, Bella had said.

Thankfully I got downgraded later that night. Bella was willing to concede, if I too could own up to it, that I only had an inner car snob and was not myself utterly and completely a snob. I decided it was the best deal I was going to get and agreed.

I smiled inwardly. In Alice's vision we weren't driving the damn truck. We were driving my beautiful and incredibly fast Vanquish. I would win, in the end.

As we walked into the garage, Jacob gasped. "Holy shit," he whispered.

I wasn't sure if it was the spaciousness of the garage, the showroom condition of the area, the number of cars, their condition, or possibly the sight of Rosalie installing aftermarket airbags in the reconstructed doors of the truck. As it was non-essential information, however, I couldn't be bothered to check.

"Rosalie, there's a friend of mine I'd like you to meet," Bella called out pleasantly.

"You must be Jacob Black," Rosalie said, coming closer and brushing her hands out on her thighs. "You look very like your great grandfather."

I was shocked that Rosalie was being so polite, but I tried not to let it show.

"Um, thanks."

Rosalie extended her hand and Jacob took it hesitantly.

"And, um, thanks for the master cylinder. I had no idea when I was going to be able to get one on my own."

Rosalie smiled ever so slightly and I was stunned further. "No problem. So you're the one who rebuilt the truck's engine, hmm?"

Jacob nodded.

"Why don't you show me what you did?"

The two wandered off toward the truck and I looked down at Bella, eyebrows raised.

_Told you those two had a lot in common._

Bella. She never ceased to surprise me. I grinned at her, leaning down to kiss her thoroughly, only to hear the crystal bell tones of Rosalie.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Garage."

"Sorry, Rosalie," Bella said breathlessly, her lips brushing up against my own as she uttered the words.

I heard Jacob snickering softly. "Are they always like that?" he asked Rosalie in a whisper.

"Mmm hmm," she responded back as we left her domain.

Bella and I had time before her dinner to rebuild and satisfy all of the sexual tension we could imagine, which is precisely what we did.

As I sat on my leather couch, head thrown back in ecstasy, hands on Bella's hips as she rode me hard, then soft, then hard again as her whim dictated, I decided once and for all that my life was perfect and that there probably was a god, who did in fact smile on me.

***  
End Chapter 14  
End Book One

**End A/N**: Will there be more? Of course! DESS will continue, in this same archived 'story'. Come play with us on the Twilighted forum, and if you have enjoyed this story so far, go nominate it for the Eddie & Bellie Awards – you can catch the urls on my profile. So. What was your favorite line?  
***


	24. His Cake

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz,  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

***  
**Book Two:** One More Year 'Til Forever  
**Chapter 1**: His Cake  
**Beta:** A huge thank you to Colleen P who reminded me of squirrels and talked me down off the ledge on page 35, and who suggested several lines that I used, verbatim.  
**Author's Note:** The birthday boy requested lemons, and what the birthday boy wants, the birthday boy gets. Forty pages worth of lemons, because when Edward asks nicely he can be mighty persuasive…  
***

I smirked and gasped when Bella released my nipple from her mouth, then proceeded to breathe hot air on it. Blindfolded as I was, between her scent, her mind, and the sounds that she made no matter how silent she attempted to be, I still knew precisely where she was and entirely what she was doing. Or, I knew as much as I ever did. The chains were just for play as well. In the end I decided to only get two very generous lengths of the heavy gauge chain, both of which looped under the bed. It allowed the illusion to be complete without requiring me to constantly repair the bed frame.

Oh, but the chain around my waist, my very own Adonis' Belt, that was _not_ for play. That was for keeps. Bella had had it for _months _before she actually gave it to me tonight, for my birthday.

I hadn't celebrated my birthday in years, but Bella informed me that she had plans, and so the weekend before June 20th while the family was hunting and Charlie thought we were out camping with them she scheduled our private celebration of my one hundred and fifth year. Following her instructions, I prepared only the simplest of salads with some grilled chicken on top for her dinner – Bella needed her protein – and I was struck even as she held the light blue box in her hand she wasn't thinking about what was inside of it.

Bella's ability to compartmentalize really was quite phenomenal.

I opened the box, half knowing what would be inside, but half wondering if Bella had changed her mind, or if this was something else entirely. But there, in the flat rectangular necklace box, on a bed of satin lay my Adonis' Belt. The thick platinum chain was mostly hidden behind the satin, but five inches lay exposed on top, tied in place with a light blue ribbon that also secured the tiny key. Halfway through the five inches of exposed chain lay the small platinum padlock in the shape of a heart, holding the ends of the chain together. Engraved on the heart in a flowing script was the phrase, _Belongs to Bella._

Holding the box in one hand I leaned over the kitchen island and took the back of Bella's head in my other hand, pulling her towards me for a kiss.

_You like it?_

I grinned at her, my lips brushing against hers. "I love it," I whispered to her, against her lips.

"Happy birthday to you," Bella started to sing very, very softly. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Edward, happy birthday to you."

I got up from the kitchen stool I'd been perched on and walked around the island. I untied the ribbon and took the key out and gently laid it on the counter next to us. I tugged the platinum belt from the box, and after putting the box down as well, held out the chain to Bella. I raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Put it on me?"

She took it from me, then bit her lip, concentrating.

_How best to do this__. Hmm._

She untucked my shirt, running her hands along the skin of my waist while she did so, to make sure the track was free and unencumbered. She took the key and unlocked the small padlock before carefully tucking the key into the leather thong that secured the Cullen crest on her left wrist. With the belt in one hand, Bella took both her hands and started just beneath my navel, then paused when she encountered my skin.

_No, not quite._

She undid the button on my khaki slacks and pulled the zipper down slowly, peeling the two flaps of cloth away from my body. The slacks sagged somewhat, but didn't fall off me. At this point I was almost completely hard.

_Hello, there,_ Bella thought, brushing three fingertips over the tip of my cock. The only physical response I gave was a subtle hardening, but I could feel the pleasure shoot up my spine.

Bella hands made their slow and gentle way around my waist and when they met at the small of my back, I could feel her shift the end of one chain to her other hand. Bringing her hands slowly back around each side of my body, I could feel the slight chill of the chain as she encircled my waist with it. I watched, my shirt tails gathered in one hand and pulled away, as Bella hooked the lock in both ends of the chain and then snapped it shut.

_Hmm. There. Mine._

"Yours," I whispered.

The lock hung down just slightly from my waist, following the lines of my musculature, and settled just off to one side of the tip of my erect cock. I could feel its tiny weight. It reminded me of the weight of just one of Bella's fingertips. My cock twitched and Bella giggled. She gently picked up the lock and centered it, placing it directly on my tip and it stayed there for a brief moment before sliding off to the other side.

_I can't wait to hear what the rest of the Junior boys make of this at gym, when they see you change._

"Did you want me to listen in and find out? I'm usually in your head during my gym class."

Bella shrugged, but her curious thoughts were flitting around her mind. I decided to do it at least once or twice. Honestly, I doubt they would notice at all. When I wasn't actively showing affection to Bella I was largely ignored at school.

I reached out and placed my hands on Bella's hips, bringing her closer to me, grinding her gently on my hardened length, half exposed through my unzipped pants, but still covered by my black boxer briefs.

"Thank you for my birthday gift, love. Will the birthday boy also be getting quite a lot of sex?"

She smiled up at me. _Does the birthday boy __**want**__ quite a lot of sex?_

"Yes," I breathed.

_Well, then. I suppose the birthday boy should __**get**__ quite a lot of sex. I can sleep Monday night._

"You _will_ be sleeping, love."

_Yes, of course. But not much. Besides, I'm young yet. Feed me, and we'll be fine._ She grinned then. _Speaking of which, your eyes are black__, baby._

"I'm skipping school on Monday to go hunting with Jasper."

_How much of my blood would it take to turn your eyes red, anyway?_

I tensed a little at her question. "More than I could safely take."

_Well, I think this weekend you should take all you safely can,_ she thought, kissing the little bit of my collar bone that was exposed at the collar of my shirt._ Sixteen ounces is an awful lot of mouthfuls, and I know you have the control, baby. I fully expect to be down a pint by Monday morning._

"Bella," I said, not meaning to growl, but doing so anyway as I spoke.

"I have endured multiple lectures about taking gifts gracefully, Edward. Do I really need to quote you back to yourself?" She looked up at me, a fierce bunny indeed.

I sighed. My Adonis' Belt, a weekend-long sex marathon, and a pint of Bella's blood did make for a fine birthday present. A very small part of me knew I shouldn't complain. I decided to swallow my pride and go with it as gracefully as I could.

"Thank you, Bella." I leaned down and pressed my lips against her cheekbone. "Your generosity does not cease to amaze me," I whispered.

_That's my boy. Birthday boy, birthday boy, birthday boy. You can choose what sort of sex we have and where, but I have something in mind I'd like to try first._

I saw a flash of four chains and our bed, and I knew exactly what she had in mind.

_Alice assures me that you have all sorts of fun things to, um… complete the 'chained up monster' look. Not that I think you're a monster, baby, because you know I don't. But if that's the metaphor you insist on using, I can work with it. And I think that maybe… it's, um… time to chain up the monster. Is that… okay? I mean, we don't have to if you don't want to. And um, it's your birthday, so we __**really, really**__ don't have to if you don't want to._

I grinned. I leaned into her just slightly so I could whisper into her ear. "I want to."

_Well then, why don't you go and set that up, but don't… um, don't get undressed or anything yet. I mean, don't… oh, god. Don't chain yourself to the bed. I want to do that. Oh my god, do you hate me for thinking that? Please don't hate me for thinking that. I just, it would be weird to walk in and have you already naked and chained to the bed, that's all._

"I understand," I assured her, catching her lips with my own in a searing kiss. "And I do just as you ask," I point out after I tear myself away. "Follow me up. I'll be done by the time you get there."

I left immediately, running up the two flights of stairs to our room, refastening my trousers as I went. I quickly pulled the chains from the box in the closet, and holding both of them at one end, tossed them underneath the bed. With one at the foot and one at the head, I brought the ends of each chain up and around to the top of the bed. The chains were long enough to meet in the middle with some leeway – they really weren't meant to restrain at all – and so I wrapped the ends together at the foot and then again at the head so that the weight of the heavy chain didn't drag the ends back down to the floor. I heard Bella midway up the first flight of stairs. I dashed back to the closet and retrieved the optional felt linings for the manacles. It wasn't something I needed, but should the fancy take Bella, I didn't want her with bruised wrists and ankles. Bella was crossing the landing of the second floor when I thought better of the situation with the bed. I removed the chains, turned down the bed completely and piled the pillows to either side at the top of the bed, then replaced the chains just as they were before.

Much better.

"Ready or not, here I come," Bella said softly, midway up the second flight of stairs.

I came out of our bedroom and waited for her in the hallway.

I reached out and took her hand as she approached. I kissed the back of it and followed her into the bedroom.

_Ooo, kinky. Add black wallpaper, red velvet hangings and flaming wall sconces and I'd say I'd been taken to the vampire's secret dungeon lair. Or possibly from the vampire's perspective, the 'obvious fun room.'_

I snorted. "You _are_ in the vampire's lair, and since there are chains on the bed, I suppose you could liken it to a dungeon. Though I remind you, the chains are for me," I said, finishing with a whisper in her ear. I pulled her back against me and thrust slightly into the softness of her round and luscious backside. "Besides, here in the Pacific Northwest, we don't have lairs. We have spacious bedrooms with huge windows." I paused. "Though it's obvious to me that we're about to have fun in this room."

Bella snickered. _See? See?_

"Well, what now, Bella? This is your fantasy."

_It's your metaphor! I just put an image to it, that's all. You're the one who said I had your monster all chained up and purring. Or something to that effect._

I just smiled at her, now that she had turned around in my arms. I could wait. As a point of interest, I could wait longer than Bella.

_Oh fine. _"You should probably take off your clothes. Slowly. Very slowly." _Striptease. Oh, shit, I didn't mean for you to hear that._

I grinned. Would this be a cum bunny moment? I decided that the better part of valor was not to ask, not to even bring up that particular endearment until she was so aroused she couldn't think straight.

I took one step back from her and slowly and methodically undid the buttons at each of my cuffs. I then rolled up each sleeve to the elbow so she could see my forearms, for which she had just lately developed a fascination. I wouldn't want to deprive her.

_Oooh, yes. Very nice. Mmm. Please do continue…_

I flicked open the buttons on my pale green oxford one at a time, starting at my throat. I made sure that each of my movements was slow and deliberate and I kept my eyes on Bella's, so that each time she glanced up from my fingers to my eyes I would be ready for her. Her mind was fairly incoherent, which told me that I was doing my job well.

I left my shirt on for the moment. I kicked my shoes off and removed my socks as well, tossing them away towards the mouth of the closet in our room. I could feel the links of the chain around my waist shift as I undid the button of my trousers, slowly pulling the zipper down. With little encouragement the pants pooled at my feet and I kicked them away.

I took a moment then, away from the requested striptease.

I let the thumb of my right hand brush against the length of my engorged cock. "Bella, Bella," I groaned. "Do you see what you do to me? The state you have me in so frequently? I'm only ever like this for you, always for you. You're so beautiful. You smell so _good. _ Your mind, _god,_ being in your mind is like sex without bodies. And you have this look, when you're being feisty, it's just… Oh, Bella, it's so sexy. Do you know what you do to me, Bella? Do you know that I would do anything you asked, and do it cheerfully, just because you asked it of me?"

_Anything?_

"Anything." Except name our daughter Renesmee, I thought briefly, fleetingly.

_So I guess it's not a big deal, playing at bondage, then? Especially since this couldn't actually bind you?_

I smiled, still using my thumb to lightly stroke myself, brushing against the locket each time I hit the crest of my stroke. The thought, to say nothing of the feel, sent a thrill up my spine. "It would be as if I had bound you to the bed with triple-thick crepe paper. There is some substance there, but I'll have to be careful not to accidentally pull too far and too hard on them."

I watched as tension I hadn't even recognized left her body. She'd been worried about this, I realized. Wow. Four months of Bella and you'd think I'd be able to read her more quickly than this.

I slowly shrugged out of my shirt, and as it fell to my elbows, Bella came closer. Her hands were out to each of my arms and she caught the shirt before it hit the ground. Her lips were otherwise occupied – pressing open mouthed kisses to my shoulder – so I heard her think at me.

_Oh, I'll take that. Might be needing this later._

When she stepped back it felt like it was too soon.

_Oh, baby, don't pout. You'll get yours over and over and over tonight._

I turned around and slowly peeled my underwear off, bending over part way through the process to do so.

_Beautiful. He's so… God, even his ass is beautiful. So, so, so beautiful._

I heard her take a shuffling step forward, then felt the heat of her small hands rubbing back and forth across my backside. When I straightened up, her hands followed the chain slung low on my hips.

_So sexy. So beautiful._

Her right hand followed an erratic trail upwards while her left hand went lower with unerring accuracy until she grabbed my cock in exactly the fashion I loved most. I hissed my pleasure. Her smell, her touch, her heat – even though she was fully clothed and I completely naked, she was so alluring and I was so aroused, I just couldn't help myself.

_It's unfair for one person to have so much beauty in this world, Edward. You are stunning, my love. It's a good thing we don't go out much, because I'd have to beat women – and some men – off with a stick. And I don't think you'd like that side of me, sweetheart._

I groaned and interrupted her. "Actually, you couldn't be more wrong. You can defend – oh, god, yes, Bella," I said, losing my train of thought when she started pumping her fist up and down my shaft. I picked up where I left off. "…My virtue any time. I would be honored. And in fact you'll have an opportunity, the first time you meet our cousins from Denali."

_What? Explain that, please._ Her mind was all over the place, but I could tell she was discomfited by the possibilities of what may have happened in my past.

I groaned again. She hadn't stopped with he left hand, and her right hand was now rubbing one of my nipples.

"The family in Denali consists of three sisters, Kate, Irina, and Tanya, and a mated couple, Carmen and Eleazar. The sisters have a deep appreciation for promiscuity, and I was the conquest Tanya could never make. She still tries."

_**Not anymore she doesn't!**_

I purred. She squeezed harder, but pumped slower. Bella scratched her nails across my chest and my purring got louder. I tipped my head back and let it loll. She pressed a kiss against my shoulder blade.

_Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine._

Belongs to Bella, I thought with a smirk, my purring getting softer again before it trailed off.

She caught me off center when she let go of me and stood back.

"On the bed, you. Now how do these things work?"

Bella's thought's were dripping with lust as she watched me crawl the short distance to the center of our bed from the foot, over the chains. I slipped my feet underneath the ones lying below, and unwound the ones near my shoulders. Laying twisted so I could lean on an elbow and use both hands, I showed Bella the manacle mechanism. It was very simple and was secured by a removable pin.

_Whoa, that's heavier than I thought it would be, _she thought when I handed it to her. She pulled the pin out and the manacle fell open in her hand. I held out my left wrist for her.

_I feel like I should be saying something when I do this - something momentous, or at least sexy. But I've got nothing._

I laughed.

_I'm fairly certain you're not supposed to be laughing when you get chained to the bed, though._

I laughed harder.

Bella glared at me. _You may be the most handsome man in the northern hemisphere-_

I actually thought that title was reserved for Carlisle, but now wasn't the time to argue.

_-And you may be the only vampire in this relationship, but you need to stop laughing right now, or I'm going home._

I was instantly contrite. Sometimes I forgot how sensitive and unsure Bella could be. It was an easy thing to forget when she was feisty and fiery, but her low self-esteem was only partially covered by her sarcasm, and I knew it. I would do well to apply that knowledge to my experience, though, or it would be all for naught.

I reached up and pulled her down on top of me, one hand guiding her hips, the other at the side of her head. I kissed her soundly, my tongue seeking out the forgiveness I needed for my callousness.

"I'm sorry, love," I murmured against her skin. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable." I kissed her again, and groaned when I felt her settle more securely on top of me, straddling my hips and trapping my erection between our bodies.

Many moments later the kiss tapered off into gentle licks, tongue to tongue, tongue to lip.

"The birthday boy," I murmured, referring to myself in the third person, "cordially invites you to finish chaining him to the bed so that you may feel free to have your wicked way with him and his monster. The birthday boy also would like to respectfully request that dirty talk be involved."

Bella looked at me and smiled a small smile and eventually raised an eyebrow. "You want me to talk dirty to you?" she whispered, her words filling up the small space between us.

I grinned. "Yes, please."

She sat up and I groaned with the new pressure of the seam of her jeans against my cock. She pulled the other manacle out from under my shoulder where I'd tucked it and opened it up. I offered my wrist and she made short work of it. Bella hopped off – though not with much grace – and went to secure both of my ankles before coming back and sitting next to me, her hot hand laying on my chest.

_Now. Whatever shall I do with you? Should I insist you recite me poetry? Hmm, no, no, I don't think so. No. Since it's your birthday, I insist you tell me exactly what you want when you want it. You may not get it, but I want to know, because you don't have a chance in hell of getting it unless I do know._

"I want you to take your clothes off. Now. Quickly." Ten minutes ago, really.

She shucked her shirt and I gasped. I knew I'd smelled lace, but I hadn't imagined this. This had Alice written all over it. It was a deep, vibrant blue that pushed and held her breasts, creating the most entrancing line of cleavage between two luscious and creamy curves of flesh. They provided the perfect satin pillows on which her engagement ring lay.

"Keep that on for now," I said softly. Bella grinned at me in return.

Her jeans came off just as quickly. She had on matching lacy boy shorts.

_Alice tried to convince me that a thong and a garter belt would be better, but I had to draw the line somewhere._

I imagined taking Bella from behind while she was wearing a thong and garter belt. I'd tell her later about that. No need to destroy the momentum of her self confidence by telling her I would have preferred the garter belt. I grinned at her instead. "They need to go, too."

She took them off, then put on the pale green oxford she'd laid across the bottom of the bed. "I might get cold, you know."

"We wouldn't want that," I said.

She didn't button it, or adjust the sleeves, she just stood there, examining me while wearing that incredible bra, my engagement ring nestled almost between her breasts, and my shirt gaping open over it.

_So beautiful. _"Now, what should I do with you?" she asked aloud. "Hmm… I could suck your cock. Do you have any idea how much I like doing that? Your skin is so tasty, and you smell so good, and then, when you actually come, it's like a burst of sweetness on my tongue. It's like drinking down honey and lilacs. The only downside is that my jaw gets tired.

"Maybe we should force your orgasm. That's always fun. Maybe you should bite me – there is, after all, a pint of Bella's Finest reserved just for you – and then I can clean you up afterwards…"

"No," I said. "The birthday boy would prefer his multiple orgasms to occur while wrapped within your pussy, please. Or possibly in your sweet mouth. But your hot, wet, tight, heavenly pussy is always the birthday boy's first choice," I whispered.

_Really? Good to know._

I groaned, feeling her lips around the tip of my cock, sucking. "I told you, Bella," I gasped. "Coming inside of you is my new favorite hobby. I just want to do it all the time."

_Your wish is my command._ _And don't you dare hold back on me._

She crawled up me then and positioned the tip of my cock at her entrance, nestling it just slightly there, even as she placed her index finger at my lips, rubbing the bottom one, begging for entrance. I opened my mouth and greeted her finger with my tongue, welcoming it inside, sucking it in.

_Are you ready, birthday boy?_

My eyes flashed to hers, and I growled. She was mentally incoherent as she sank down on my cock, and I wasn't much better. My teeth sliced her finger and my mouth instinctively set to the rhythm that I had perfected with Bella – slice, catch, soothe, slice, catch, soothe, and I milked drop after delicious drop of blood from the digit in my mouth. The feelings below were no less euphoric, and the moment she dropped down on me, my hands went to her hips. There was plenty of leeway with the chains – they were here for the visual dynamic, not to actually restrain – and so I pulled her roughly into my body again and again as I started to come as hard as I always did when her blood was in my mouth, even in miniscule amounts.

_Oh, yes, Edward. Edward, you feel so good inside of me. So hard. So hard. I can feel every pulse, and when you come I can feel the icy chill._ She rocked on me, grinding her hips into mine. _And one day, one day Edward, one day I'm not going to be on birth control. One day we're going to fuck, and you're going to come, and I'm going to be ovulating. You're going to come, and come, and come, and you're going to get me pregnant with the twins. I never would have imagined that was going to be a sexy thought, but Edward, it is. It is a sexy thought. God, Edward. In another year. Just another year, we're going to fuck and you're going to get me pregnant. __Can we still have sex while I'm pregnant?_

"Yes," I mumbled around her finger, through my growling. Of that I was fairly certain. Point of fact, pregnant women were usually quite horny and most of their husbands that I'd had to witness found their pregnant wives particularly attractive. Not that I was able to mention any of this – I could only just barely think it at all, but as my hips flexed up against her and as my cock pumped that cold seed into her, all I could say was _yes._

_Oh good._

I groaned and thrust one last time into her, the last of my seed pulling up from the bottom of my being. Bella draped herself over me, pulling her finger from my mouth. She sighed happily, and my cock began to soften slightly.

_The cum bunny strikes again._

I snorted at her, even as I held her closely, my hands caressing her beautiful back. "I think the cum bunny is the blood bunny in disguise."

_Aw, shucks. I was keeping that a secret. _Bella had an odd mental image of a bunny version of Clark Kent, and a bunny version of Superman. I wasn't sure which one was supposed to be blood and which cum, but there were glasses and a cape involved.

"You know. Eventually you're going to have to get me off the old fashioned way. Forcing my orgasms only works as long as you are human."

She giggled. _I'm not worried._

I laughed as well. "No, I don't suppose you need to be."

_Besides. Think of it as one of the perks of having to put up with my humanity._

"Bella," I called to her, wishing she would understand. "I adore you. I don't put up with your humanity. It just is. I accept it. It's part of the package deal. Besides, it's not like it's keeping us apart, or keeping us from doing anything we want to do."

She pushed up off my chest then, so she could look at me. "Really? You mean that?" she asked in a whisper. "You're not holding out on me?"

I thought about that for a fraction of a second. There were many things that we couldn't share because she was not a vampire, but there were also many things we could share because she was a human. Truly, my only preference of one over the other was the fact that as a human she would age in a way I could not, and she would die. If that weren't a factor, there would be no point in turning her. I wouldn't change a thing. I told her so.

I thought again after I spoke, remembering those few moments when Bella had been extremely upset and had kicked me out of her mind. That had been deeply unpleasant each time, and once or twice had been the beginning of a very dangerous situation for us, as I had been aroused a few of those times and as quick as thinking my lust for her body became an almost uncontrollable lust for her blood, but we managed each time, and each time was better than the last. We were both getting better. With Bella as a vampire, the blood lust wouldn't exist, but I had to wonder what her gift would be like then.

Her gift was strong now, but it was only going to get stronger. Would it become offensive, and not strictly defensive as it seemed to be now? Would she become like Jane, or Kate? Would it hurt more than normal to be ripped from her mind? It wasn't pleasant now, but could it be worse? It could always be worse…

There were so many things that worried me about Bella's transformation, though I realized that now was not the time to become preoccupied about them.

_Well, I'm not going to change my mind, either way. We're a matched set, and we should look it. I don't want to have to be introduced as your mother, or your aunt, at any point in time, even if it is all a charade. What I want to do to you,_ she thought, and at this point she squeezed her muscles around my soft cock, partially pushing it out, but certainly helping my recovery, _is not fit for mothers to do to their sons, or aunts to do to their nephews._ She bit down on the lobe of my ear and I got perceptibly harder.

"Oh, but you'll take brother-sister incest?"

_I'm sure we'll only ever be foster or adopted siblings. Hey, maybe I could be a cousin. No, that won't work. I'd have to be like, a third cousin once removed or something. Nevermind. Gosh, how are we going to explain the twins? And once they get older? Oh my gosh, what if they end up looking older than us? Are they going to be introduced one day as our older siblings? _Bella started giggling. _That's nuts!_

I grinned along with her. Point of fact, I was the oldest of the siblings, outside of Jasper, and I acted it, however much I was always presented as the youngest. Emmett on the other hand, who clearly reveled in his own eternal version of Youngest Child Syndrome was often mistaken for the oldest, and inconceivably, most mature. If our family had functioned along hierarchical lines as so many of the other covens did, I would have been Carlisle's second-in-command. So it goes. Looks can be deceiving.

"We can deal with that later. There will be plenty of time. I, however, will only be one hundred and five once."

Bella snorted at me. _Sure! Live it up, birthday boy! _She thought this even as she took my shirt from off her body, tossing it over the side of the bed. She kept that gorgeous bra on, though.

"I'm trying," I muttered, ignoring the clank and shift of the heavy chains as I lifted my hands to Bella's face. I kissed her as she continued in her silly, happy thoughts.

_One hundred and five, two hundred and five, three hundred and five, four hundred and five – these will all be momentous birthdays, I can tell. We'll make sure to celebrate them._

I got perfectly hard at the thought of spending the next three hundred years with the love of my life.

"And, what does the birthday boy want now?" Bella asked after dragging her lips away from mine. Her hair hung in a curtain around us, her body and her mind cradled me, I could still feel the taste of her blood on my tongue, and my every sense was focused on her.

"Tease me," I breathed out at her.

She grinned. "I can do that." _If only I didn't lose it at the first scent of blood, I could make this so much more interesting for you, baby. Sorry about that. Anyway. Tease you. Hmm…_

She raised her hips and drew herself off me completely. I hissed a little, and then hissed a little more when Bella came back, but only pressed the sweet heat of her core against my length, trapping it between our bodies. She leaned down, pressing her breasts against my chest, and put her lips back by my ear.

"If you want to come, at any point in time, just say so. Just say, 'please, Bella, I need to come,' and I'll let you come in my _hot, wet, tight heavenly pussy_ that you like so much. Okay?"

I nodded, feeling my cock twitch against that selfsame pussy. I wanted her to tease me, and she was certainly making a lovely start of it.

"Let's practice. Let's pretend you want to come right now. What do you say?" the siren whispered into my ear.

"Please, Bella," I begged. "I need to come."

_Oh, fuck. Oh, Jeez, I love hearing you beg. I think that must make me a very, very bad little bunny. Maybe you should think about what I need to do to atone, because baby, I __**really**__ like it when you beg._

Words couldn't describe what Bella's inner monologue was doing to my libido. It was suddenly too much and if we had been at school, or with my family I might have simply suffered through the intense kick of need, but as we were alone, naked and ready, I saw no need to delay.

"_Please_, Bella," I said again, begging more fiercely, more desperately. "I _need_ to come. Atone now, and _let me come_." So much for teasing, but _God,_ knowing how much she liked to hear me beg, I just wanted her to ride me. I growled and repositioned Bella's hips so that I was begging at her entrance. But I wouldn't invade, not while in chains, not when I knew how much she liked it when I begged. I had no shame in this respect – I would be happy to beg for all eternity.

She gasped and held my shoulders to maintain her balance. _Oh, god, I… oh! I thought… you wanted…_

"Please, baby, _please_ let me come. I want to feel you wrapped around my cock. Tease me later. I _need _to feel you wrapped around my cock. So hot, so tight, _please_ baby. I _need _it." I groaned. "Please, baby." I grunted. "I need to feel you squeeze me, that beautiful pussy, that beautiful, hot, tight, wet pussy. God, baby, I need it so badly. I need to feel it around me, caressing me, so perfect, so tight and so fucking perfect, Bella." I groaned. "Do you like it, baby? The reaction you get from me every time? You offer me your blood and I lose control. Every time. Every fucking time. I lose it, and oh, God, but I love it. I love that I can't help but come hard. And God, but it's so monstrous. It's so fucking monstrous, Bella. I'm such a monster. But I won't give up anything you give me. I'm too selfish. Too fucking selfish." My hands were all over her, but the rested on her hips now, holding her steady as I thrust up between us slightly, my cock still trapped between our two bodies. "I won't give up a single thing you give me, love. Not your heart. Not your mind. Not your body. Not your blood. It's such a gift. You give me such a gift, Bella. And I'll spend eternity repaying the debt.

"I love you so much, Bella. I adore you. You're a goddess," I groaned. "My beautiful, dark-haired goddess. And so, I beg you, please, keeper of my heart, please, inspiration of my life, please, fire of my lust, please, mother of my children, _please let me come inside of you."_

_Oh, yes, baby, you can come. Get in here, and come!_

Ten minutes had yet to pass between then and now, and the surplus of my ejaculate hadn't yet leaked out of Bella, but she was slippery and slick from both our juices and I slid in without even the barest hint of resistance. I pushed her upright and we both groaned. Keeping one hand on her hip and one gently against her lower belly, I thrust into her, looking for the perfect angle of our bodies so that the head of my cock could push into her g-spot. I readjusted Bella's seat on me so she was leaning just a tiny bit further back and grinned when she shrieked at my next thrust. I pushed against her abdomen, offering the slightest resistance, then thrust into her ten times in rapid succession, deep and hard.

Bella screamed out her pleasure, gripping my forearms with her fingers and my cock with her pussy as she came. When she folded back down into me, I started thrusting lazily into her again, my hands palming her round, soft backside. Her lips were near my ear, panting out her breath.

_I thought you were the one who needed to come?_

I grinned. I leaned forward slightly, craning my neck so I could lick up the side of hers.

She shivered. _Oooh, God, yes. Take as much as you want, baby. _She threaded her fingers in my hair, holding my head close to her, pressed to her neck. _Take as much as you want baby, and come home. You're home. Your dark-haired goddess bids you come home._

It felt like my heart exploded. I _was_ home. _Bella_ was my home. Without realizing it, I started purring again, and tore gently through her neck, letting the pulse and spurt of the artery slowly fill my waiting mouth. One mouthful. One and a half ounces. It was all I could take, given that I needed to carefully seal her wound with my tongue so that it would heal with out a scar, and given that I needed to do this and consume this gift without missing a single drop, without a single smear exposed to air – all this and still to savor it slowly, holding it in my mouth, delighting in the taste, in the utter ecstasy, even while my hips spasmed against hers, even while my ears filled with her moans of encouragement, her moans of my name. I could feel it coming, and it felt like my orgasm was being drawn from every muscle in my body. I could feel it in my shoulders and my back, in my tongue and my fingertips. It was her blood in me and my cock in her. It was life, and death, and life again. I was reborn and remade in and through her. There was nothing I would not do, nothing I could not do for the goddess astride me. She was everything good in the world, and I was only trying to match her pace.

I let her blood trickle down my throat in a tiny stream, letting it sooth irritation I hadn't even noticed before. I thrust into my sweet Bella, letting myself go, coming into her, coming home. The sweetness of her body soothed the beast chained to the bed with a solace that was perfectly complementary to her mind. Together, the two were a combination that would never fail to captivate and subdue me.

_Oh, baby, yes. Feels so good. I like it when you come inside me. So good, Edward. So good. _She groaned wordlessly and collapsed down onto my chest. My arms went around her, silent in their movement except for the shifting of the chains. She shivered when the manacles that surrounded my wrists and the chains that trailed from them touched hers skin. _Ooo, cold. _

Bella raised her hips and let me slide out of her with a whimper that made me wonder why she'd done it in the first place. I was perfectly content to be inside of her and there was no condom to remove… Still, she settled back down on top of me, stretching her folded legs out and reaching out to grab one of the small hand towels that lay folded on the bedside table. Bella reshifted, sliding herself slightly to one side of me, which I knew she found more comfortable than trying to use my unyielding body as a mattress.

"Now, what exactly happened to 'Tease me,' hmm?"

I grinned. "I got distracted."

She grabbed one of the pillows from the corner of the bed and placed it over my bicep before she snuggled into it. I turned my head so I could watch her.

"Distracted."

"Distracted." I put one hand on her hip. "You are distracting. The idea of coming to my orgasmic release while buried deep within your pussy is always a welcome one, and when you reminded me that the option was always open to me, when you thought about how much you enjoyed hearing me beg… I got distracted." I grinned. "I'm easily distracted, in that way."

Bella snorted. "Clearly." She took the towel then, and softly wiped me off, and of course by the end, I was hard again. She grinned at me. "Sorry." She laid the towel back on my stomach and as she waited for her body to expel the excess from our love making she breathed deeply.

_I love you, Edward._

I rolled slightly, so I could reach her to kiss her on the forehead. "I love you, too, Bella. Always."

_Always._

She had fallen into a light sleep when my ejaculate began to trickle out of her. It woke her back up. _Oh, sorry. I think I fell a sleep. Um, could we just take a little nap? We, meaning me? _she asked as she wiped herself clean and tossed the towel toward the closet.

"Of course, love. As I'm chained to the bed, you'll need to grab the sheets and blankets down there…"

She giggled as she did so, and then snuggling back in, asked mentally, _are you okay like that? I mean, should we release you?_

Oh, no, no, no. I had one more thing in mind before we unshackled me. Besides, my movement wasn't that restricted, and I certainly wasn't uncomfortable. "Not yet," I whispered.

_Kay…_ she mentally mumbled before she drifted off.

We really shouldn't stay in bed the entire weekend, was the thought I tortured myself with while Bella slept. Over and over it tumbled through my head, different slight variations on the theme even while I explored the possibilities of what might happen – good and bad – if we did try to stay in bed, save for making sure Bella ate and other such human functions.

In the end, I decided that in fact, we shouldn't. I didn't want to hurt Bella, and I knew that I could persuade her, if I wanted to, to attempt it. No, I needed to be responsible.

Being responsible had never been quite such a trial before.

Running. I decided that I really wanted to go running with Bella. I loved Bella. I loved running. It made sense. Reading. I would read to Bella – or possibly just recite. Bella loved reading, and I loved Bella, and we both seemed to enjoy when I read to Bella, so that made sense as well. Cooking. She needed to eat, and I adored being able to meet her needs. I would make Bella the intricate versions of the recipes for which Emmett had shopped. I would create something beautiful for her in the kitchen while she sat on the island counter and chattered at me.

I was in the midst of modifying the third recipe based on what was in our cabinets when she began to stir at my side.

"Mmm…" She stretched and the length of her body, her warm, naked skin rubbed against me, quite successfully bringing my attention back to the present moment. The chains shifted and clinked and I brought a hand to brush her hair away from her face.

_My pretty vampire, all chained up for his birthday. _She giggled at her own sleepy thoughts.

I decided to growl at little, partially to see what thoughts it would provoke, partially in an attempt to elicit a sexual response from her.

_Ooo, maybe the big, bad, monster doesn't like being referred to as 'my pretty vampire'._

Actually, I liked it just fine, or I did, until Bella mentally equated the phrase 'my pretty vampire' with 'my little pony'. I was less amused, then. I growled louder.

_Ooo, maybe it's a good thing he's all chained up. _Her hands started to move on me, but I laid still, letting my own hands fall to the mattress above my head, a sign of submission. I sustained the growl, however. _Tease me. I wonder if that still holds. Well, until he says something different, that's what I'm going to go with. Heh. Something different like, 'Please Bella, I need to come…'_

I closed my eyes and my growl slowly melted into a purr as she kissed my chest, licking and nibbling at my nipples. She took her sweet time, exploring and kissing and occasionally lingering over a spot that took her fancy. Bella seemed particularly enamored of my stomach and hips, lately, and she took her sweet time kissing and licking and scraping her teeth across me. With a grin, I clenched my abdominals and held them tight for her benefit. Bella looked up at me then, giving me as saucy grin and attacking my so-called six pack with renewed vigor. She took her bra off then, and the sensation of her nipples dragging over my skin was wonderful. When she finally shifted up and away from my torso, she moved to give my arms the same treatment and several locks of her hair fell over my face. Her hair carried her scent so strongly, but it was also a mix of scents, a mix of all the places she'd been since she'd last washed it. I picked out each scent, savoring it, recalling where she's been at the time. The clearest scent, of course, was the combined smell of our sex. It was delicious. But then again, so was what she was doing to my bicep, a formerly unexplored erogenous zone.

Bella shifted further when she moved to kiss and lick my hands, which rested submissively just above my head on the mattress. I could feel the chain of the engagement ring pooling in the palm of my left hand. My fingers flexed slightly, but I kept the palm open. If she shifted, I didn't want her to get hurt because she'd been unwittingly restrained.

To reach my hands with her mouth, she was on all fours above me, astride me, but just the sides of her legs touched the sides of my body. Oh, but her breasts hung like luscious, ripe fruit directly over my head.

The constant purr shifted again, back to a growl. I could smell the deepening of her arousal, but my eyes were glued to the sway and subtle movement of those two perfect offerings. I leaned up only slightly and licked a nipple, then again, and again.

Bella's mind, formerly quiet and full of the gentle, cradling, nebulous thoughts that were present even when she was fully focused on a task suddenly turned vocal and sharp, even as her breathing shifted.

_Ooo! The monster awakens._

She sucked one of my index fingers into her mouth and my cock twitched predictably. I leaned up a bit further and caught her nipple between my lips, sucking gently, but firmly. Bella moaned.

_Ooo, I like that._

I know you do, sweetheart, I thought.

I sucked harder, working the little bud in my mouth with my tongue. I knew that my growling was vibrating her slightly. I knew she liked that, too.

_Ooo, my pretty vampire, my sweet angel, my Adonis, chained… How much teasing will you endure? When will you ask to come? When will I fuck you – or will you fuck me? How will it happen? You wanted to keep the chains on – I assume you have something in mind, my love, my heart, my mate._

I did have something in mind, and aroused as I was, fully hard and aching, I wanted the need to be a little sharper, yet. She moaned, then, when I switched breasts.

_Oh, so sweet. So good. I love what you do to me. Yes, Edward, Edward, so good. I'm so wet for you, baby. I'm so wet. Can you smell it? I bet you can._

I growled sharply, paused, and then continued growling. For once I had no wish to talk, and yet I adored her stream of consciousness as it wrapped around me, arousing me just as certainly as her mouth and her delicious nipples, and the scent of her ready sex.

Bella pushed herself out of my range, then, straightening her arms in preparation for scooting back down my body. Her arms weren't straight for long, though. Still astride me she pressed her body against mine as she slid down dragging her breasts down the sides of my face, slowly over my shoulders even as my tongue took advantage of her neck perfectly poised for tasting.

Bella was the tastiest treat there was to be had.

Then she was too low for me to taste and my pouting mood turned the soft growl into a momentary snarl. The snarl abruptly ended in a moan, which was quickly followed by a groan, which then turned into yet more purring when I felt her hot mouth latch onto the sweet spot at the crook of my neck. My entire form grew unconsciously rigid, not that I'm sure Bella would have been able to tell the difference. My cock throbbed, though, and as she was sitting on it, I knew she could tell that, at least.

And, Sweet Jesus, she didn't stop sucking.

She sucked, and her tongue swirled, and her teeth grazed, and you'd think in theory that human as she was she'd be incapable of physically affecting me with such profundity. Forty-five seconds into it I was arching off the bed beneath her, pressing my body up against hers as she held herself above me. Without meaning it to be, the growl was loud now, filling our room on this late Friday morning. My cock throbbed between our bodies and my hands clenched into fists, my arms still laying submissively, though my muscles were corded and bunched with the strain of maintaining my position – that is, the strain of control, the strain of maintaining my submission.

_My pretty vampire likes that._

And she didn't stop. Ninety seconds later she hadn't stopped. One hundred and twenty seconds after that and she still hadn't relented. Sixty seconds after that and her suction remained, her wet tongue still laving, her teeth still biting at my skin. Sensation just compounded on itself, each second containing worlds more bliss than the last, each second blowing my mind.

Fifteen seconds later I had hit my threshold.

It happened before she could register anything, of that I am sure. Still, it was a delicate maneuver that I had conceived of as she was licking my bicep. I lifted her slightly, just enough for me to slide out to one side, out from underneath her. Then I repositioned her in the center of the bed, still on her hands and knees. Then I rolled on top of her – not putting my full weight on her of course, but this was made interesting by the chains that I did not wish to break just yet. There was enough leeway for me cross the chains at my wrists, but not enough for me to cross the chains and lift my hands up very high, unless I had one hand down resting on the mattress, which freed up a bit more mobility for the other hand. So I put my left hand on the mattress, neither to steady me nor to bear my weight, as I could easily maintain whatever position with Bella I liked for as long as I liked, but rather to free up some of the chain for my other hand. My right hand snaked underneath her arm, across her breasts to hold her left shoulder, to hold her tight to me. As I assumed this position, kneeling behind her, I slid inside the slick piece of heaven she kept for me. We gasped at the same time.

_What the…! Holy… What… __**Oh, fuck!**_

"_**Bella!**_" I gasped out, still growling, my voice sounding inhuman in a way I'd hoped Bella would never actually witness. At least, in more lucid moments, that's what I hoped. I stopped all sound and gasped for air. I remembered the magic words. "_Please_ Bella, _I need to __**come**_." My voice was a harsh whisper in her ear. My cock throbbed within her, and I knew she felt it. I knew she loved it. We both did.

_Yes! Oh, fuck, yes! Fuck me, baby. Fuck me good._

I very happily complied.

Holding Bella steady with my arm between her breasts and my hand gently cupping her shoulder, I drew out of her until only the very tip remained in contact with the sweet slickness before I plunged back in again, my hips shoving forward to meet the softness of her beautiful ass. Fully, deeply, deliciously sheathed, I ground into her, twisting my hips as if trying to find the threading that would twist me tighter, farther inside of her, more fully, more completely, more permanently inside of her. I never found it, but not for lack of trying. This I did over and over and over again each time I thrust inside of her. Each time, I felt the chain around my waist and the tiny lock beneath my belly press into my dear, sweet, innocent Bella, whose one-time fantasy had turned into this delightful session of play.

She came twice, squeezing me, teasing me closer to my own release. The first time she begged me to come with her, but I was enjoying myself too much to want it to end. The second time I was still enjoying myself too much, but by then it had been an hour and forty-three minutes of straight, raw, delicious fucking. An hour and forty-three minutes of my cock burying itself in its only true home, slipping and sliding its way inside, a thick guest made to feel at home in the midst of the soft, wet silk that surrounded it.

An hour and forty-three minutes of pure fucking was the longest we'd gone without some sort of reprieve, some change of position, some interlude of cunnilingus or fellatio – or both – and though I wanted to make it two hours, or perhaps three, just like this, this one position, this one beautiful depth, this one long moment punctuated by meeting Bella's gaze in the mirror opposite us, seeing how we looked, me chained to the bed, but her trapped beneath me, just like this, just like this forever…

Which was exactly why I had to stop. God. We _would_ do this again when we wouldn't need to stop. We _would. _That knowledge was the only thing that gave me enough strength to stop because it was just so fucking tempting to take one more thrust, just one more, then one more, then one more, one more, one more, one more, more, more, more…

An hour and forty-four minutes passed before I sunk my teeth into her neck. I was greedy, but she'd already given me permission. I gulped down one mouthful, then another, moaning at the shock of pleasure it brought. The blood poured down my throat, soothing every hurt, every irritation, tasting like the unmitigated ambrosia that it was – heaven, and sex, and love, and Bella, and sunlight, and lavender, and devotion and freesias. Then I took one more mouthful – six ounces today, I tallied – and I held this one in my mouth as I sealed her wound. I let her blood slosh against her skin as my lips were sealed in an open mouth kiss on her neck and I very slowly swallowed the last mouthful, bit by sweet bit as I thrust into her, releasing into her again and again and again as I came onto my orgasm every bit as hard as I always do when I taste her blood on my tongue. I swallowed and swallowed and swallowed until it was gone, and then I cleaned her neck off with my tongue, making sure to get every last bit. Nothing of Bella's precious gift to me would ever be wasted. Not ever.

As I licked her neck I could feel her strong muscles spasming slightly around my softening cock, her own orgasm making her shake and moan, her breathing now a short, impatient pant.

I held her then, for the briefest of moments before I let her go, still maintaining our positions and as quickly as I could, I unshackled my wrists and threw the chains and the manacles to the floor. I had only released her for a small fraction of a second – Bella was not particularly coordinated after good sex.

I pulled out of Bella then and she whimpered. I checked her left shoulder quickly to see if there was redness or obvious soreness, a sure sign that I had perhaps held her without enough gentleness. There wasn't. I laid down to her side and gently drew her next to me, my hand softly stroking her, even as my other pulled a pillow to us, arranging it over my arm so that she could curl up next to me, breathe her hot breath on my chest, fist her hand in my hair. My beautiful girl did just that, throwing her knee over my hip for good measure.

Her mind was unusually silent. I was still cradled by it, but I think it was possible that I'd just officially blown her mind.

"Bella, love. Was it too much? Are you alright?" I asked, whispering to her, my lips grazing the top of her head.

She moaned. I think it was possibly a positive moan, rather than a negative one, but I wasn't entirely sure.

_Tired. _"Tired. Good. 's good." _Marrying a sex god. Good. That's gooooo…_

And then she was asleep.

…

After lunch we agreed to go running.

Bella picked up the present from Alice that lay wrapped on the kitchen counter as I did the dishes.

"Aren't you going to open this?" _Aren't you curious at all… Oh, do you already know what it is?_

I smirked. "Bella," I started, looking over my shoulder at her, my hands deep in the warm dishwater. "You're the only one who can seem to keep anything from me in any kind of convincing manner."

_Huh?_

I kept doing the dishes and thought of how to explain. "The trick to keeping me out of your thoughts – well, not your thoughts, but anyone else's thoughts, and this was before you came around to shield me from the world, mind – is not to _try_ not to think of something, which inevitably backfires sooner than later, nor is it to try to think of something else, which backfires later than sooner. The trick is not to think of anything at all. Which is something that very few people can do. I've been around some Buddhist monks, and some other religious types who meditate, and they can do it on demand. The rest of us seem not to be able to do that – we can only do it spontaneously and in an entirely involuntary fashion when we're so utterly engaged in something that we're not thinking at all, we're just present in the moment, experiencing. And when someone is like that, I can't read anything at all, because there's nothing for me to read. Except you – when I'm deep inside your mind, I can still have an idea what's going on, even when you're not really thinking about anything.

"But for reasons that aren't really clear to me, but that might have something to do with that amazing ability you have to compartmentalize, you can keep things a secret from me. My belt, for instance. I had no idea when you were going to give that to me, right up until the moment you brought the box out. It was a complete surprise."

At this Bella snorted. _Yea, right. You knew you were getting it, you knew exactly what it was going to look like. You helped me ask Alice to order it, for heaven's sake!_

"Yes, but love, I've been waiting for you to give it to me for months. And I had no idea if you'd changed your mind, or if you were waiting, or anything. You could have made any decision at all, and I had no idea.

"Alice, on the other hand, tends to recite poetry when she's trying to keep something from me. Most of the time I respect her wishes, but I knew it was about my birthday present, and I was curious. We don't always celebrate our birthdays, and so I wanted to know what she found that was so special."

"So you already know what's in the box?" she asked.

I nodded. I grinned, but she couldn't see it.

"Well, are you going to open it?" _I can't take the suspense!_

"Why don't you open it for me?" I asked her, returning my attention to the dishes. I heard her tearing into the decorative paper only a moment later. Then I heard her gasp.

_Ohmigod. Edward… Edward, it's __**beautiful.**__ Oh, there's a smaller one, too!_

I smiled. In Bella's hands was the beautifully framed 8"x10" photograph that Eric had taken of us on Bella's first day. And still in the box was a framed 4"x6" of the same photo, the larger for our bedroom on the third floor, the smaller for Bella's bedroom in Charlie's house.

I finished up and dried my hands, turning to her. She came around the island to show the photograph to me. I put my arm around her and we looked at it together.

"You know," I said softly. "You'll look different after the change. Not hugely, but just enough. Just enough to stop traffic. Just enough to get a man, a stranger, to come to you with just a crook of your finger, with just the tiniest suggestive smile." I trailed one fingertip over the picture, over Bella's face as it looked up at mine. "And I'll spend centuries looking at that face, loving the person behind it, but I'll miss this one." I turned then, and she put the photograph down. We held each other. "It's a good thing I have perfect recall," I said, smiling, leaning down to gently touch my lips to hers.

I held her then, or better to say we held each other in the kitchen, and I listened to her heartbeat as she lay her head against my chest.

_When is Alice leaving?_

"Next week. Jasper needs to graduate first."

_She's coming back, though, for our wedding, right? I mean, no matter what they find or what they don't, right?_

I nodded. "She says they'll be back no matter what by the second week in August. She says she needs that long to convince you to accede to her wishes regarding the wedding planning."

_Are you guys… I mean, won't you miss her? And Jasper? Are you guys like, always together, or do you do this sometimes?_

"Do we go off exploring in the Amazon, looking for mythical vampire hybrids often? No, we've never done that before." Bella swatted my backside lightly. I grinned. "Do we sometimes go off on our own, in my case, or in our mated pairs for some time alone? Yes. Alice and Jasper have a cottage somewhere in Canada. Emmett and Rosalie have lived on their own for about ten years, and frequently go off for a year or two every ten. Carlisle and Esme disappear for much shorter periods of time – usually three or four months. And you've already read about… my rebellious period. That was the only time for me, though I have to admit that the prospect of going off with you for several years is much more tempting than just wandering off by myself."

_Yes, but we're going to have children, Edward. No wandering off for us for quite some time._

I grinned. "True," I admitted. "Ready to run?"

_Can't wait for the baby-sling. No, shit, I'm sorry. I do want to run, honest. I just… I feel a little silly in that thing that Alice made for me, that's all._

I paused and wondered where to take this. It was clear to me that Bella still wasn't a huge fan of running, even though Alice had created an ergonomic sling that would attach Bella securely to my back while I ran. The one other time we'd used it, Bella had seemed to genuinely enjoy the experience, but she was still so negative about it, and I just didn't know what to make of her tendency to run hot and cold about this.

I waffled for a long moment before deciding to be selfish. I wanted to run and she hadn't refused me, so we were going to go running.

"You get the thing. I'm going to go take a human moment and pee."

I smiled my acquiescence, determined to regain my happiness. We'd shared a delightful morning and there was no reason to believe that the next two days weren't going to be similarly delightful, and with even the smallest amount of luck, full of sex. Hell, luck probably wasn't even necessary. Bella had already promised me a weekend of sex. There was no way this could go wrong.

While Bella was getting ready I grabbed a small pack with the bare essentials for whenever I went out with Bella – a bottle of water, an energy bar, two hand warmers, a space blanket and a first aide kit. Bella came into the living room, where I waited and wordlessly slung the pack over one shoulder so it would rest on the side of her body, secured by the sling, but not digging into her back the entire time. She had tied her hair back. Then, with some help, she hopped up on my back and wrapped her legs around my waist. Quicker than she could follow, I secured the sling over her clinging body, strapping it tightly cris-crossed over my chest, and again at my waist.

"How is that?"

"Tight."

"Tight good, or tight bad?"

"Tight good, I think," she said.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

_Yep. Let's do this thing. Hi-ho Silver, and all that jazz._

I snorted as we left the house. I started to run very slowly, and gradually picked up the pace before I responded to her comment. "It's true you are riding me, and I am enjoying it, but I'm hoping the before long you'll be riding me in a slightly different manner, and I anticipate enjoying that even more."

_You are a dirty old man. Has anyone ever told you that?_

I laughed. Before I met Bella, I had no reason for anyone to say any such thing.

We were quiet together for the first twenty minutes. After that, Bella finally spoke to me in her mind.

_This really is nice, Edward. You have my permission to remind me of that fact when I get freaked out, thinking about it. It's very comfortable back here, and when I focus on what is ahead, instead of to the side, it's really quite beautiful. And of course… that I share it with you, Edward, it makes it all the more worthwhile. _

I could feel her arms and legs tighten around me briefly with her words. The happiness swelled so much within me that I had to throw my head back and laugh.

_I love it when you laugh. It's no holds barred. It's like… distilled joy, your laugh._

My smile was wide. "It's you, you know that, right?" I asked. "It's you, it's us that makes me so happy. God, Bella. I feel so happy, I feel like I could burst from it. No one else on this earth could be as happy as I am right now," I said, wishing for her to understand.

_Good birthday, then, huh?_

I laughed again. Yes, it was a good birthday. It was good, and it was only getting better.

Then I caught the scent. It was a black bear. I adjusted my path toward the scent.

"Do you want to see something beautiful?" I asked Bella.

_Of course I do._

"Stay as quiet as you are, and don't be afraid, alright?"

_Um, okay…_

And then we were upon the bear. It was perhaps three hundred pounds. It stopped to look at us. We were thirty feet from it.

_Oh! Ohmigosh! Um, are you going to eat it? _

I smiled and shook my head slightly, gently, but enough that she would understand my answer. There weren't enough bears in this area for me to pick them off. Besides, the population of predators in general wasn't that high in this area, and what with drinking from Bella, it would be an unconscionable waste of resources for me to eat a predator at this point in my life. Deer would work well enough for me for the time being.

The bear was still curious about us, but not curious enough to come any closer.

_Um, since you're at the top of the food chain and all, shouldn't it be… running, or something?_

Bella made a good point, but now that I thought about it, I was certain that it had something to do with the fact that I was in her head. I had no connection to my own bloodlust in her head, and so at least for the moment I really wasn't a danger to the bear, and perhaps the bear knew it. I tried to explain that to Bella softly, with as few words as possible.

_Oh. Huh. Um, baby? I'm kinda curious. Would you… I mean, could you… Would it be okay if you came out for just a moment? I mean, not long, I'm just curious what kind of reaction the bear would have it if could sense that you were a predator, too. A bear-loving predator._

I wouldn't say _bear_-loving, but I got her point.

I weighed the pros and cons. I'd had much more control of late, in those times when we slipped up and I got kicked out of her head. I'd gotten much more control, and I wasn't currently aroused, and I could return to her head at any point in time…

I nodded. "Ready?" I asked.

_Ready! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, baby! Okay. Out you go. Shoo! Go scare the bear. _

I was out, but I could still hear her chortling to herself ever so quietly, a clearly heard brush against my mind in the quiet of the forest. I took a deep breath and the scent of Bella was much closer and much more interesting to me than the scent of the bear, but both managed to fill my mouth with venom.

It had been three weeks since I'd fed. _Fuck_, I was hungry. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea. It was true, I had no specific urge to rip Bella out of the sling and feast on her, but the burn in my throat was significantly uncomfortable.

When I looked up, I found that the bear was no longer so very interested in us, as I no longer seemed human. The animal ran off without further prompting.

"That was somewhat anti-climactic," Bella remarked.

I smiled, wondering if she had expected the bear to faint. The tenor of her thoughts was turning tentative again, but as she wasn't explicitly asking something, I couldn't get a hold on it. But she wanted something, she wanted to ask me something and she wasn't sure how I'd react, or I didn't know Bella.

"What is it, love?" I asked gently, swallowing past the burn.

"You're still out of my head, right?"

"Mmm-hmm," I murmured in the affirmative.

"And I bet you're pretty hungry, aren't you?"

I paused, knowing where she was going and wondering if I had been set up. Bella was the only person who could keep things from me, but I'm not sure I believed her capable of this. Then again, I wasn't sure either way. I'd ask later.

"I'm very hungry," I confirmed softly.

_Right, because your eyes haven't been topaz in weeks._ I heard her distinct thought softly, softly brushing my mind.

"Then you should probably eat something. I mean, not me. Something that's not me. You should probably eat something that's not me."

A grin slowly lifted my lips, even as the thirst raged down my throat. "If I even felt tempted to do that love, you know I'd be back in your head before you heart could beat again."

_I know! You know I know!_

It was silent for a moment before I spoke again. "You want to see me hunt, don't you?" I asked, my voice a raw murmur, echoing the burn I felt.

"Yes." _Don't hate me!_

"I could never hate you, love."

"Hey, I thought you weren't inside of me," she said, her voice somewhat petulant.

"All things being equal, I don't need to be inside of you when you're thinking clearly and directly, love. I can hear you."

_We're going to have to discus this sometime. At length. But not right now._

"You're right," I confirmed. "Right now, we need to hunt," I said, my voice a whisper again.

_Yes! YES! __**YES!**_

I laughed despite my thirst. "Ready?"

"Ready," Bella whispered from behind me.

It was a slow start, just as Carlisle had pointed out was necessary, but not as slow as I normally took. Now I was hunting, and there was a more primal part of me that just took over. Bella's scent was distracting, but she'd been with me, a part of me for the last half hour, and I was already so used to having her scent on me while I hunted, her presence was only distracting and not tragic, as it once might have been.

Hell, maybe the deer would taste better if I could smell Bella while I ate.

It was another twenty minutes before I caught wind of a small herd of deer. I immediately changed directions and was almost upon them three minutes later.

"Tuck your arms in," I said quietly, crouching down. As quickly as she could manage, Bella took her arms from around my chest and tucked them in the almost non-existent space between my back and her chest. I needed to be able to grab the deer, crush its body to mine, and I didn't want to hurt Bella. Her legs around my waist should be alright, though.

I sprang, conscious of the fragile woman on my back, and so sprang with less vigor that I might otherwise employ, but ten seconds later I had a doe in my arms nonetheless. I didn't dare take the buck, wary of the rack of antlers coming to close to Bella in the death throes of the deer.

It was on the ground, neck broken, and I – we – crouched over it. The blood soothed the burn and was marginally more palatable with Bella's scent in my nose. I took my time draining it, feeling Bella's arms come back around my chest, stroking me. The blood soothed my thirst somewhat, but Bella's hands did something else entirely.

Finished with the deer, I sat back on my heels before it, and threw my head back, gasping for the pleasure of the quantity of blood – if not the quality – that I had just consumed.

Bella's hand squirmed underneath my shirt and rubbed at my exposed belly, scratching her nails along the skin. I bit back the groan. The hardening of my cock I could do less about, however. Still, I tightened my abdominal muscles for her.

"Good?" Bella asked, and she shifted slightly.

The scent of her arousal hit me hard, but I was still in control.

"Still hungry," I admitted. It was true. It had been three weeks, but perhaps just one more doe would do.

"Then keep hunting," she said, taking advantage of my head still thrown back to suck on my earlobe.

I groaned audibly, then. "How much did you like watching me hunt, Bella?" I asked.

"A lot," she admitted. Then she licked my ear, and shifted again.

"Tuck your hands again, then. My dinner's not far away."

I was off, following the herd. When I entered my crouch I could hear Bella's heartbeat race and the scent of her arousal got stronger. I didn't pause in bringing the deer down, though, and soon enough I was draining that one as well.

I wasn't quite finished draining the deer when I felt Bella's hands around my waist again, underneath my shirt, rubbing the bare skin of my belly.

_He smells different. More intense. Fuck, I didn't know anything on Earth could smell better than Edward does on a regular basis, but this is… this is like that on speed. Oh my God, I want him so badly. Why do I find him so unbelievably sexy right now? This is so wrong. He would hate this if he knew. I'm such a bad and unsupportive mate. I can't even let him eat in peace. Oh, but he feels so good, and he smells… oh, God, if he smelled like this on a regular basis, I would have already gone down on him in the middle of the Forks High cafeteria. Several times. And in detention, too, when we inevitably received it. Oh, hell. I'm so wet. He's bound to have noticed. Or he's bound to notice as soon as the bloodlust is out of the way. I am so busted. Shit. I'm just going to have to own it. 'Well, Edward, it's like this…You're sexy. No, that's all. All the time. Yep. Even hunting? Oh, baby, __**especially**__ hunting. You've got that 'big bad' thing going on. That 'look at me, prey, aren't I attractive' thing, that unsurprisingly, your mate also finds attractive. Very attractive. Like, she's really like to fuck your brains out right now, attractive.' Yes, yes, I can see that working so well. So much for a good birthday. Shit. __**Shit.**__ I've gone and ruined his birthday. God, could it get worse?_

I finished with the deer, but nothing could wipe the smile from my face. I sat back on my heels, panting and purring with my head thrown back. I took a fraction of a second to consider the possibility of making love to Bella while not in her head. If anything went wrong, if it felt like I was starting to lose it, I could very easily slip back inside of her mindscape, but really, I'd been getting so much stronger of late. My control with her, physically, was an entire universe away from where it was when we first met, and my ability to deal with the bloodlust was also much better. It was as if I had desensitized myself to some extent, though I rarely tested it.

But here I was, strongly aroused with Bella's scent surrounding me and the bloodlust was negligible. I think it had something to do with the fact that I'd just drained two large does.

I wouldn't take Bella next to the remains of my kill, however.

I shot up and away and was a half mile from the doe before I stopped again. Bella was absorbing the change in scenery.

"We're stopping?"

"I thought you might like to get down and stretch your legs." And possibly wrap them around my waist in a completely different fashion. I couldn't wipe the smile from my face yet, and I knew she could hear it in my voice. I couldn't help it. Every part of my life of which I think Bella won't approve… when I hesitantly show her, she accepts me with open arms. It makes me love her all the more deeply.

_Stretch my legs, sure. Baby, you can hear me, right?_

Her mental voice was soft, but neither one of us was distracted right now, and no one else was around. I could hear her just fine. I nodded as I slowly unfastened the buckles securing her to me.

She was silent then, and I wondered if she was compartmentalizing again, keeping me from her thoughts, or if she was getting even more upset and had actually shut me out again. If we were going to try this, she would have to be open. I had to have the option to return to her mind, or else this wasn't going to work.

Her legs slipped from around my hips, but her arms were still tight around my torso. I took her hands and pulled them down my body, resting them over my engorged cock that strained beneath the denim of my pants. I pressed her hands against me and held them there, letting my head fall back.

"You haven't ruined my birthday, love, and I'm not mad at you in the least." She squeezed me and I groaned. "Take a deep breath, Bella, and let your thoughts flow over me again. We can't do this if your mind is closed, my love."

_Edward. I'm here. Are we really going to… Are we really going to try… Oh, God, Edward. It was so hot. It was so sexy. And it doesn't make sense, but it started the minute you left my head, and it had been so long since you fed, and then you got wind of the bear and whatever happened, suddenly you were even more appealing than you always are._

I decided not to mention that the bear had nothing on Bella's scent. It did no good to dwell on it just now, when I was contemplating having sex with her, without being in her head at the time.

_And then, when you had your first deer, oh, God you probably saw that fantasy. Oh, God, I am one twisted bunny._

I shook my head. She'd had a fantasy?

_Oh! Well…_ And then I saw it. Us fucking next to the deer, bloody handprints smeared across Bella's flawless and unbroken skin. Her neck painted with blood that I licked off as I thrust inside of her. Bella climaxing as I roared, thrusting inside of her and riding out my own orgasm. I was captivated by experiencing it from her perspective – the pride and power she felt as she held me. She thought I was perfect, angelic, godlike, a natural element utterly untamable, and yet gentled at her hand. It made her euphoric to behold my submission to her, to watch as I lost myself in her body. She was intoxicated by me, and it thrilled her to know that her devotion was somehow mutual.

"Oh, God, Bella…" I moved her hands quickly and unzipped the fly of my pants, pushing them and my underwear down just far enough to release the aching hardness she'd built up within me. Unbidden but delicious, her hands were back on me as quickly as human reflexes allowed. I grunted. "Yes. Harder. On second thought, get over here and use your teeth."

_Oh, fuck, yes, baby. Anything you want. Just tell me what you want,_ she thought as she moved around to my body and sunk to her knees, pushing my clothing down to my ankles.

"I want it hard," I ground out. "And rough. But don't hurt yourself. Use your teeth. And your nails. And tell me more."

_Tell you more?_ She thought for a moment about what I must have meant, but I wasn't sure I could explain at that point because she _was_ using her teeth and it felt so incredible, feeling them scrape along my cock. She was using her nails, scratching and pulling at the sac that held my testicles. When she used her right hand to twist the skin at the base of my cock as her teeth scraped and her nails dug, I roared my delight into the forest.

I was nowhere near coming, however.

The pleasure was mind-numbing, and all I could think of was my sweet Bella, my sexy little bunny, who had many untold tricks up her sleeves.

_I wanted you right then, after the first one, but then you said you were still hungry, and I wanted you so badly, baby. God, I know I shouldn't get off on feeling your muscles bunch beneath me before you spring, or feeling you bring down a deer by hand, or the sound of you sucking at the wound you'd just created, or the sound of you gulping down your food, hearing each swallow, or the sexy satisfied gasp at the end just before you throw your head back, or sweet Jesus, the olfactory orgasm that is your smell as you hunt, but I can't help it, baby. Oh, Edward, I can't help it._

_And you __**would**__ taste even better than normal. It's just so __**intense**__. Everything is more intense. I bet your cum is even tastier, too, but I know how much you love coming inside my pussy, so I won't ask, baby._

I ripped my shirt off, ignoring the buttons and shredding the cuffs when they got caught on my wrists. Bella looked up at me then, her eyes wide as she saw what I had done. The sight of her like that, kneeling at my feet, her lips stretched around the midpoint of my cock, her hands just as busy as her tongue – it was a mesmerizing sight to behold. I stared, blatantly. I could have stared for hours yet.

_What's next, birthday boy? My jaw is getting tired, _she said, removing me from her mouth, but not removing her mouth from my cock. She remained, licking up the underside, then biting all along my throbbing length.

"Take your clothes off, before I rip them off you," I growled. "Now," I clarified, when she hesitated.

_Maybe I want you to rip them off me._

"_**Now, Bella,"**_I snarled, knowing that if I shredded her jeans off of her, I would hurt her in the process.

She quickly took her shirt off, and I helped her to stand to shimmy her jeans off her hips, kicking off her sneakers with her jeans. I smirked as she stood there in front of me in a matching set of light blue lace panties and a bra, and white cotton socks. Some men thought it was sexy to make love to a woman while she still wore a pair of red stilettos, but I preferred my bunny in her cotton socks. She was sexy as fuck, and she was all mine. I was just glad it was mid-June so she wouldn't freeze as I let her fuck me outside.

I reached out for her and gently ripped the bra apart, carefully so as not to bruise her in the process before I whipped it off of her. I did the same with the lace boy shorts.

"Keep the socks," I hissed before pulling her down on top of me as I slid to the ground.

"Use me, Bella," I growled at her. "Fuck me hard and get yourself off."

She sunk down on me immediately, her legs folding up next to my hips, and as she reached bottom, she rolled her hips and groaned. I snarled at the sensation. It was so good. No matter my state of mind, being inside of Bella was so good, and it was so different when I wasn't also in her mind. It wasn't worse, and I'm not sure it was better, but it was appreciably different. It was raw and… heavy.

I sat up, determined to seduce her into as intense an orgasm as I could. One hand on her delicious little ass, and one hand at the back of her head, I drew her face to my neck.

"Smell me," I ordered her softly. She braced herself, holding onto my shoulders as she rocked and rolled her hips on me, sliding and rolling and twisting my cock inside of her slick and delightful pussy. She breathed in and I felt her shudder. "Tell me," I ordered her. "Tell me how much you love it."

God, I was a needy bastard.

Her nails scraped at my shoulders as she shuddered again at my words. "Edward," she moaned out loud, writhing on my lap. _It's like a drug. Oh my God, maybe this is what it's like to get high. I get it, then. I finally understand why people would use drugs. Breath… Every breath… God, I can't… It's so good, baby… It's savory… and sweet… and promises… It makes all these promises… Sex, love, adoration… Your cock, hard and pounding… giving me what I want…_

Her hands were in my hair as she continued to breathe deeply, nose buried in the crook of my neck, wriggling and clenching around my cock, twisting and rolling her hips. I continued to hold her gently, one hand massaging the back of her head, the other on the curve of her ass.

"I promise you, Bella. I'll say it out loud. It's the same false promise that my scent makes to anyone close enough to catch it, and it's false – a tease, a set up, a lure to bring them close enough to bite, but for you Bella, only for you it's real, it's true. I promise you, Bella. Only you. Sex, Bella. I promise you sex. Good sex, hard sex, sweet sex, kinky sex, slow sex, fast sex, whatever you want, whenever you want it. Whatever I can give you, I'll give you.

"Love, Bella. I'll love you forever, more and more every day.

"Adoration, Bella. Every look, every thought is devoted to you, my sweetest girl. My fierce, beautiful, dark-haired goddess, I do adore you, utterly, completely. I belong to you, my sweetest love. I swear to you I will fulfill every promise that you can feel deep within you. _I swear it,_" I said fervently, desperate for her to believe it, for her to know it in a way that doubt could never touch.

Bella took one more deep breath and keened my name, her whole body clenching around me, her hips moving faster. The pressure on my cock was delicious.

"That's it, Bella. That's it. You're so very beautiful when you come. So sexy, is my goddess as she rides my cock for her pleasure," I whispered to her, stroking along her spine. She quieted after a moment, but then her tongue darted out to taste my neck and she shuddered again.

_Still want you. More. Can I have more? I want more, Edward._

I gave her more. I rolled us over and fucked her while she wrapped her legs around my waist. Holding myself up on my elbows, I kissed her deeply while I fucked her, my hips thrusting in various rhythms that amused me.

_Taste… smell… tongue… cock… body… Edward, yes, yes, yes!_

Incoherency was becoming an issue for me as well, the more she sucked on my tongue. My throat was beginning to burn with moderate intensity and my mouth was flooded with venom, which Bella seemed to enjoy the taste of, if the way she was sucking it out of me was any indication, but I still had no significant desire to hurt her. Every time the thought came up, I shied away from it, burying myself further in her body. Her blood smelled exquisite, but not as exquisite as I knew it tasted, and so the smell was not quite the irresistible siren call it had once been. I knew what it tasted like, and knew I could have it whenever I wanted. That practical knowledge cut the urgency in half.

Ninety minutes of savage fucking later had witnessed two of Bella's orgasms screamed out into the forest around us. I rolled onto my back, keeping Bella firmly attached to my cock.

I groaned. "Make me come, Bella. I want to come, too." My words were an unwitting echo of her own, before her first orgasm with – in a manner of speaking – me.

_Blood?_

I shook my head. That would be my last resort. I wanted to do this outside of her mind.

_How do you want it, baby?_

"Hard," I ground out. "Fuck me hard, Bella. Teeth. Nails. Scratch the hell out of me, baby." I paused infinitesimally. Did I dare? Did I dare to ask for what I wanted?

I did dare.

"And talk dirty to me," I said. "I want an X-rated running commentary, starting now."

_X-rated running commentary, huh? _she asked as she sat back, grinding her hips on mine, one hand grasping at the platinum chain around my waist, the other hand clawing at my belly, nails raking through the hair at the center of my body, inches above my cock. _Well, my sweet and loving boyfriend has got this monster cock and sitting astride this monster, holding onto his Adonis' Belt, it reminds me of those risqué bumper stickers I'd see in Phoenix – save a horse, ride a cowboy._

I groaned in delight. Yes, Bella. Save a horse, ride me instead. Whatever crazy wonderful thing her mind came up with, I was fine with it. But her sweet and dirty commentary was only just beginning.

_Baby, I love your cock. You know that, right? I sit next to you in lunch, in Biology, and it's like my whole body just hums because I'm near you. And though I try not to think of it, because I know you don't find it oh-so-helpful, I just can't decide what I want most in those moments – throw you down on the floor and fuck you just like this, or maybe I just want to lick you. Everywhere. I'll start at your ears and work my way down. And then I'll come back up and nibble everywhere I've licked._

I thrust up inside of her as she rambled, and it brought her back to the present moment.

_Ooo, right. Cock. Mmm, Edward. I'm not sure I'm good at talking dirty baby. I like it in theory, but I don't know if I'm doing it right. I mean, I don't want to call you names, or anything._

Then I saw a flash of a memory, Bella watching porn.

"What the _hell_?" I shouted. "What the fuck was that, Bella? Are you watching porn without me?" I growled. "From now on, no watching porn with out me."

_What? No! Shit, you saw that? That is so embarrassing. It was… well, I thought it was GI Jane, but it was actually part of Phil's porn stash. It was sort of like watching a train wreck__, and I didn't take it out right away. But they were talking dirty while they were… fucking… only, it wasn't very nice. I mean, they were sort of mean. I don't want you to call me a bitch. And I'm never going to call you bastard, or an asshole. And I know you know better than to call me a whore. But that seemed to be the most of it. I'm not sure what else there is._

Having listened to nearly seventy years of Emmett having sex, I knew quite a lot about talking dirty, and no body called Rosalie a whore and lived to tell the tale.

_Wait… um, are you suggesting we watch porn together?_

I thrust up into her, my hands going to her breasts to rub and massage. "Could be fun," I ground out.

And then the fantasies came fast and furious. First we were on the couch, my fingers deep in her pussy as we watched some vaguely constructed and rather hazy porn on the TV, but then the image shifted, and we were up in our room on the third floor. Bella was on her hands and knees, and I was behind her, thrusting in hard and steady, only we were facing the foot of the bed so we could see the TV instead of the mirror, and the same porn was showing there.

"Like that idea?" I asked, my voice full of gravel as I continued to buck underneath her.

_Fuck, yes, yes, yes, baby, so good, I do. Right. So. Um, back to the question. Um, how? Oh, God, yes. Um, I mean, oh, Edward, yes… How do I talk dirty? Oh! Oh, fuck, Edward! Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck, oh, God, baby, feels so good. Feels so good!_

I eased off her g-spot so her brain could function again, before she orgasmed. I wasn't sure how many more she had in her before she would need to rest, and I was bound and determined to come. When I was certain that I probably had most of her attention, I spoke.

"It's about being raw and honest about sex. You aren't making love to me. You're fucking me. Your body slick with sweat, cum rubbing all over, and over. Delicious friction. Skin on skin. Hips grinding together. My cock buried deep in your pussy, grinding, pulsing, throbbing, thrusting, aching, spurting. It's ice and flame. It's you and me, without a filter."

"Guh," she said, falling to my chest, but curling up slightly, her lips over my nipples, licking and biting even while the nails of both hands scratched up and down my sides.

_Since when has there ever been a filter between you and me? At least on my side. God, you __**know**__ me. You know me so deeply, Edward. You have all of me, all the time. I'm yours. Always. And I love sex with you, baby. The chill of your skin, the feel of your tongue inside me. In my mouth, in my pussy – I like all the kisses you give me. _

And with that she licked my left nipple again before biting down on it and pinching the other between her nails. I screamed her name.

_Ooo, but Edward. Fucking outside, on the ground like this… it's so… it's so dirty, baby. I mean, campers could think someone is getting axe-murdered __out here and try to come to your rescue. And we'll get caught, again, just like after prom, against the lockers. Except this time, no 'let you off with a warning since you're __such good kids from such good families.' And out here there are probably squirrels watching with voyeuristic intention. And, oh, shit I don't care! You make me come till I can't think straight._

She was clawing my arms as one held her head to my chest – because please, God, I never wanted her to stop sucking and biting me – and one hand on her ass as she moved over me, as I thrust into her. God, it felt so good. I wasn't close, but I _could_ be close, if she would just go a little harder, a little faster. Just a little.

_What's it going to be like, baby, when I'm changed? You're so good now, Edward. You've got so much control, and I know you hold back. I'm grateful. I don't want to get hurt. You've got so much control. But what about then? What about when you can totally loose yourself? If you think I won't__ want this the first year, you don't know me very well. How much do you want to bet I'll want you when I first wake up?__ I'll bet you my truck, baby._

I shuddered when her lips were gone from my body. I whined impatiently. I growled her name. My breath was coming in hard pants.

I felt her pussy contract on me as she spoke, seeming to punctuate her statement. "Let me up, Edward."

"_Bella!" _I growled, or at least I tried. It actually came out as a whine. I did let go of her head, though. I couldn't not do so.

She sat back up, riding me again and it wasn't long before we found her g-spot together, again. She had brought me close, but not there, and now all of my extra simulation had disappeared, and she was going to come again.

I was growling, and I was angry. Her hands were on her body, rubbing her clitoris, pinching her nipples when they should have been on me, _damn it._

"_**I. Want. To. Come!"**_ I roared, my body arching off the ground, anchored only at my shoulders and my feet now, consumed with my petulance and my rage.

_Oh, fuck, baby! Then come!_

Bella's left hand clawed at my abdomen, and I was glad to have some of that extra stimulation back. I could let Bella ride me for hours yet without coming, which would be fine if she could pace me, but she can't, thus the source of my frustration. Then her hand was gone again, and I snarled.

Then, those sweet, delicious fingernails dug in behind her, one helping her to brace and steady herself on my thigh – I put my hands on her hips to help as well, she was none too steady with me still arched off the ground – and then her other hand found my sac. I screamed her name as her nails dug in, as she squeezed me hard, and as she continued, I finally came hard, like I always did with her blood on my tongue.

As I started to feel the orgasm build inside of me, I let my body drop back to the earth and instead sat up and leaned over Bella as she kept her position leaning ever so slightly backwards on me. One hand between us with a finger questing to find her clitoris, I took my other hand and dragged her head back to my neck.

"_Bite. Suck. __**Now."**_ I was snarling at her as she rode me hard. With the advent of her lips and tongue and teeth on my neck, my seed burst deep within her. I moved my hand then, down her back to press her closer to me as I came. As I came, thrusting and spurting my release to the sweet sound of her crying my name, I flung my head back and growled her own.

"_**Bella!"**_

The sound was swallowed by the forest, like lips over a lover's gasp.

***  
**End note:** So, what say you my good friends? A tasty lemony tartlet? You may be surprised at what comes next – but we'll be discussing it over on the Twilighted thread. The addy is in my profile, so leave your review and come check it out. (Or just follow me on Twitter – sareliz.)

***


	25. What The Rest Of Us Do During

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, RPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

***  
**Book Two:** One More Year 'Til Forever  
**Chapter 2**: What The Rest Of Us Do During The Daily Vampire Mating Ritual  
**Beta:** Colleen P.  
**Author's Note:** "But Sare! I thought you said you'd only write DESS from Edward's point of view!" I can hear you say, even now. It's true. I did. But you know, Meyer had us fooled for a while, too, stringing us along with Bella POV, and then we got to hear the Gospel According to Jacob. And really, Jacob got much better chapter titles. So, we've had Edward so far… and now, The Gospel According to Rosalie. :)  
***

The kid hooked me the first time he came over, but as Edward was in his la-la Bella land, as Emmett likes to say, no one was the wiser until I started to thaw many weeks later.

He had stumbled into the garage after Bella, and stopped dead, his mouth gaping. He might have been struck dumb by the cars, but I'd be willing to bet it was me, as he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of me. He stammered his thanks for the master cylinder, but if it had only been put in that loud monstrosity I heard coming up the drive, it had been a wasted effort on my part. I simply raised an eyebrow and nodded, but he continued on.

I didn't actually pay much attention to the words he was saying, but there was something about the way he said them. Bella had left by then and I thawed a little – it wouldn't do for anyone to see me like this – but there was something about him, something about his innocence, his obviously earnest nature… He wasn't like the clueless or cruel children we surrounded ourselves with in high school year after year. He was… just a little boy, in a young teenager's gangly and uncoordinated body. And maybe that wasn't true – in hindsight I suppose it wasn't – but in that moment, it's what I believed.

He was just a little boy, and I'd always wanted a little boy. The last eighty years had been hell, knowing I could never, ever have one.

I'd never actually gotten around to fantasizing what that little boy might be like at fifteen – odd really, considering the time I'd had to daydream about it, considering that the first sight of Emmett had tugged the same strings in my heart, albeit much harder – but I suppose he might have been like Jacob. He might have been earnest, well meaning, inquisitive, oblivious, and capable of eating everything in the refrigerator.

I suppose I worked hard to not think much about it – partially because I didn't care to hear Edward's opinion on the subject, partially because I didn't much want to know what I might come up with if I spent any time considering the ramifications. I suppose it's why I was surprised to find out quite suddenly at the end of the summer that I cared quite a lot about the kid. I'm not sure I would have classified him as a friend, but I knew he'd lost his mother somewhere along the line, and to be honest, I didn't mind filling _that_ role.

The realization came upon me quite suddenly when Alice stormed into the garage and pointed out that he might be dying.

But I get ahead of myself.

We were, as always, working on the engine of his Volkswagen. He categorically refused to allow us any real fun, which would of course require that the car be out of commission for some time as we took our time to fine tune every piece of machinery under the hood. He had a valid point – it was his only means of transportation. Still, the experience of working on the car piecemeal was somewhat limiting. There was still a challenge involved, of course. It took me twelve minutes at top speed to have the engine out and disassembled – or back and reassembled – and we could only start what projects we could finish in two or three hours, depending on if he came over directly after school or not. We had longer in the summer, of course, but three hours or five, it was the same thing.

It was the end of the summer, that evening, and Edward and Bella hadn't yet emerged for dinner from their Daily Vampire Mating Ritual, as the kid liked to call it. On days when he was over, he always joined Bella for the dinner that Emmett, and occasionally Edward would prepare, depending on how long the DVMR lasted.

The kid was acting funny again. I was fairly certain he'd gotten a spontaneous erection, and flattering though it was, I knew it just embarrassed him, shamed him even. I wished, for his own sake, that it would be a phase he'd go through quickly. He was still a little young, but a girlfriend wouldn't go amiss. Not that I wanted him to go around having unprotected or promiscuous sex – he was human, and thus really quite frail, not to mention prone to emotional mood swings and irrational attractions that faded all too quickly. All the same, it would be good for him to have someone his own age on which to fixate, as I'm sure his passing fascination with me wasn't helping matters.

It was about an hour later – DVMR was running late this evening, and we'd have to stop soon anyway or the kid would be eating too late to go to bed on time. Bella could skip dinner all she liked – that was Edward's problem. Jacob, however, was a growing boy and needed nutritious food, plenty and often. I was actually surprised that Emmett hadn't popped out with something already. He must be in the middle of one of his masterpieces. But an hour later, and I noticed that the kid's scent began to change. It was muskier than before. I looked over and noticed that he'd broken out into a cold sweat.

"Come here, you," I said, even as I got up to go to where he'd been kneeling down. I put the back of my hand on his forehead, only to find out that he was burning up. He was much hotter than he should have been. This was no 98.6 degrees.

"You smell funny," he remarked, which was interesting, as I'd always gotten the impression that he quite liked how I smelled.

"So do you," I retorted. "And you don't look so good. How do you feel?"

"I don't feel so good," he said. His voice wasn't as strong as normal.

I sunk lower into my crouch next to him, elbows on my knees. "You want me to get you some food?"

He made a face. "Ugh, no. Thanks. The thought of food… just… no."

"How about some water?"

"Yea, maybe."

"Okay. I'll get you some water. You just sit back and relax, and I'll put this puppy back together, and then you can go home and sleep it off, okay?"

The kid nodded, looking pained.

I could run to get the water, but I couldn't run _with_ the water, so it took more time than I liked. When I returned, he looked pale. He was Quileute. He had a lovely golden skin tone. He was not supposed to be this pale.

I handed him the water and he took it, but with both hands. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he sipped it gingerly. Twelve minutes later the engine was reassembled and firmly ensconced in the engine compartment and I shut the hood. When I looked back, the kid seemed discernibly worse.

I went to the charging station and grabbed the cell phone that Alice typically used. I programmed in the number for the one I usually used and put my first name with the number. I pocketed my own phone, and took Alice's with me. I walked back over to the kid and crouched down again.

"You look terrible, kid," I said, taking the glass of water away from him and setting it on the ground in front of the Vanquish, the tire of which he was leaning against. "Come on, take this," I said, handing him the phone. "Call me tomorrow and assure me that you haven't caught some sort of horrible human virus and are on death's door."

I took another good look at him. I was watching him deteriorate. It was happening, quite literally, before my eyes. Whatever was going on, it was serious.

"Come on," I said, helping him to stand, intent on getting him to the passenger door of the old Volkswagen. "I can at least drive you to the border."

It was at that point that Alice burst upon the scene.

"I need to talk to Jacob."

"Now's not a great time, Alice," I pointed out. He was leaning on me quite heavily at this point.

"That's why I need to talk to Jacob. Alone." I raised an eyebrow but resisted the urge to growl at my sister. She fucking well did not need to talk to Jacob alone, particularly if it had anything to do with whatever was suddenly happening to the poor kid.

He shook his head. "'Sokay, just say it, whatever it is," he said, his voice weak, but his mind still obviously clear. Or, as clear as it ever was.

"I can't… I can't see you, after tonight, Jacob. Earlier today I could, but now I can't. Usually that only means one thing, but since you're Quileute, it… might actually mean something else."

"Huh?"

Jacob was understandably confused, but I understood instantly what she meant, and to what she was referring.

I leaned him against the hood of the car so he could sort of perch on it, and I had one arm around him, supporting his shoulders. What I couldn't do was look into his eyes.

"What Alice means to say is that this sudden illness of yours, it means one of two things, and which ever it is, it will happen tonight."

"Okay…" he said, and I could tell he was trying very hard to be fully present. His voice sounded stronger, but nothing like normal.

"Tonight, either you will die… or, you will become… a werewolf."

He looked at me then, his head snapping around. His eyes were round. "Are you serious?" he whispered in horror.

I met his gaze and silently nodded.

"I don't want to die," he whispered.

"For what it's worth," I said softly, "I don't think you're dying. Your scent is changing. And I've smelled sick people before. That's not what you smell like right now. You smell… musky, and not particularly pleasant. I've smelled werewolves before, too, and this isn't quite it... but it's close. I could see how this could be... the beginning."

"I don't want to be a werewolf, either," he whispered.

"I know. I'm sorry. I wouldn't wish it on anyone," I said in a whisper, because it was all I could muster. It felt like my throat was closing, somehow.

He snorted, his face an essay of his misery. "But you're a vampire," he scoffed.

"I wouldn't wish that on anyone, either," I whispered.

Then his face crumpled entirely and his eyes welled up with tears. "I don't want to do this," he sobbed, and I pulled him toward me even as his shoulders began to shake.

"I know," I said, wishing I could cry, myself. I held him instead, stroking his long black hair, and swallowing back the venom that pooled in my mouth. "I know, I know, I know."

I held him till he quieted, and then held him some more as he clung to me. "It's going to suck at first, but you're going to be okay. You're stronger than you think, and you're going to be okay."

"How do you know that?" he asked, voice trembling.

"You think being a vampire is all peaches and cream? The first three days it feels like you're being slowly roasted alive from the inside out, and the first year you're a mindless killing machine unless you're restrained by your elders, and held in seclusion. I've never actually tasted human blood, and I never plan to. I think it's monstrous. But I can tell you this: nothing I've ever hunted has ever fully quenched my thirst. And the one thing I wanted in this world was a child of my own to raise," I said, and suddenly I could barely speak again. "And I'll never have one," I ended in a whisper.

"But Edward seems pretty happy," he pointed out, his voice wavering and muffled from being pressed against my shoulder.

"Edward," I said in exasperation, "is newly mated. Armageddon could be occurring and he'd still be happy, so long as he had Bella an arms length away."

"You have Emmett," he pointed out in the same tone of voice. He sounded so young, so vulnerable. And in truth, he was. But he was about to grow up very, very quickly. Over night, even.

"Yes," I said. "And he's been the one thing that has made my life worth living. And one day, you'll find someone like that."

"Great," he groused. "I can _imprint_ on somebody. It'll be involuntary. I don't even get to _choose_."

"Don't kid yourself," I said on a laugh. "It's always involuntary. Choice is only an illusion."

"I'm scared," he whispered.

"It's scary," I said.

He sighed, and a full minute passed before his head sagged onto my shoulder.

"Will you still let me hang out with you if I'm a werewolf?" It was a little boy's voice asking a little boy's question. It touched me, nonetheless. The next generation really was going to be different.

"Of course," I whispered, resisting the urge to snark. "Though clearly, we'll have to fill the refrigerator more often. I'm sure your appetite will only increase."

He didn't laugh. He doubled over instead, in pain. It looked like some sort of major abdominal cramp.

"Rosalie," Alice said in warning. Not once had I forgotten that she was still present, only she hadn't mattered in the least.

The kid was trying to bite back moans, now.

"Does the tribe have any idea how to help you with this?"

He shook his head. "Never mentioned this in the legends," he said, his voice pained, pinched. "But maybe Dad knows stuff he's not saying… it's possible. …I don't feel so good," he said on a harsh whisper.

Then his knees collapsed.

I caught him before he hit the ground, and swept him up so I could support his tense form. He was biting back groans again. Alice opened the passenger side door.

"Fuck this, I'm driving you all the way home. Come on. Alice, get in." I buckled him into the car and opened the garage bay door. I started the car and backed out.

"Rosalie," Alice said in warning once again.

"Don't get in trouble," the kid mumbled.

"To hell with the treaty," I said. "You already broke it once, I'm going to break it a little more. If you survive this, you can plead my case with whomever makes these decisions on your end."

He groaned again, and tried to crumble into fetal position, but the safety belt restrained him.

"Don't you dare turn into a fucking werewolf in the car, Jacob!" I bit out, hitting the accelerator and heading toward the Reservation, more than a little angry with myself. I shouldn't have waited this long to take him home. We shouldn't have spent so long talking, not when I had no idea how long he had, or how bad it would get, or if there was anything that could be done to ease the process. I was losing my little boy. There was no getting him back. I had no idea what he would become. I didn't like it.

"Sure, sure. I'm on it," he responded, his voice gravelly.

A few minutes later and all was silent.

"Jacob, you still with me?" I asked gently.

"Mmm hmm."

"Listen. Are you listening?" I demanded. "If something happens and your people can't deal, _you come back. _Do you understand me, Jacob? _**Come back to the house,**_" I said, enunciating every word of the last statement. "There are enough of us that you can't hurt us, and we would never hurt you, and we'd make sure you don't hurt anyone else. You _come back_, or you call me, if you're able, and I'll be there, to hell with the treaty."

"To hell with the treaty," he grated out. "Got it."

"We're here, Jacob," Alice said softly as I pulled the car up in front of the house that fit the description he'd given me once before. "Your dad is inside. Can you make it to the door?"

"Sure," he said, but his voice was unrecognizable. He fumbled with the belt, so I unfastened it for him. When he pushed the door open, he promptly fell out of it.

"The coast is clear," Alice said. Good thing, too. The fewer the witnesses, the easier this would be.

I left the keys in the ignition, was around to the other side of the car as quickly as I could manage, and I scooped him up without a thought. He was tense and writhing in discomfort. I carried him to the door and was just about to ring the bell when Alice stopped me.

"It will just make it worse if his father sees us," she said quietly.

"What do you want me to do," I hissed in a whisper. "Leave him on the doorstep?" I was outraged.

"Yes."

I fumed in righteous anger for a moment, but he groaned and curled into fetal position again. I sighed and put him down, leaning him against the doorframe so that when the door opened, he wouldn't go tumbling. I pulled the phone out of his pocket and pressed it into his hand, closing his fist around it. It was less likely to be overlooked when someone undressed him if it was clutched in his hand. With any luck, he wouldn't let go.

I hesitated for a moment before leaning down to his ear.

"You're going to be okay, Jacob. I'll be there when you need me."

I hesitated again, thinking of some of the powers I had, but never used. I gently took his chin and raised his face to mine. In the most persuasive and gentle tone I could muster, I ordered him, "Be at peace." I meant it with every fiber of my being. I blew in his face and watched his shoulders relax and his eyes droop.

I kissed him on the forehead, then wiped away the lipstick trace. I straightened up, Alice rang the doorbell, and we both ran.

It was an agonizing and hellish week before I heard him howling outside the house.

***

**End Note: **Hey! DESS has been nominated for the Razzle Dazzle Awards, 'Best During the Series', and the Indie Twific Awards, 'Best Alternate Universe, Completed', 'Best Alternate Universe, WIP', and 'Best Undiscovered Erotica, WIP'. Now go vote!

Thank you for the nominations and all of your wonderful reviews! I'm excited to hear what you make of this chapter - and fear not, it won't be in Rosalie POV forever...

Also - there are going to be outtakes! Put me on author alert so you don't miss any of them. One full of yummy UST is already written and at the Beta's house... More info over on the Twilighted thread...


	26. Cinderella Awake

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, RPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

***  
**Book Two:** One More Year 'Til Forever  
**Chapter 3**: Cinderella Awake  
**Beta:** Colleen P., purveyor of Awesome Bitchcraft. Yes.  
**Author's Note: **Hello. ::wiggles fingers in greeting:: I hope you enjoy the chapter. Know that there's a discussion forum on Twilighted (see my profile for the addy), and that there are outtakes to this story that you can also find on my profile page. Peace, and enjoy...

***

The modifications for the Tesla were coming along on schedule, but they didn't hold my attention like I had hoped. I kept on thinking about the kid, wondering if he was alright. I did a Google search on the Quileute werewolf/shape-shifter legends, but found nothing more informative than campfire stories. It had been a long shot at best. I didn't really think they'd let vital information like that leak so blatantly. I rang B one night, carefully timed with the aid of Alice to avoid Edward's notice, just to see if she could shed any light at all on the process of first transformation the Quileutes go through, but that was a dead end as well.

It was without grace or patience that I waited.

The first thirty seven and three quarters hours were filled with horrific what-if scenarios. What if he was forbidden to see us again? What if his basic personality was changed? What if he couldn't stand to be around us, on some sort of molecular level? What if, as a newborn, he wouldn't be able to be around us, even if he wanted to? What if I had irreparably broken the treaty and we were forced to move, never being able to return to the Olympic Peninsula? What if they were biding their time until more changed before they attacked? What if more were changing right now? Each situation was entirely plausible and came with a full set of details and implications. Most of the details were grisly. Few of the implications were lovely.

Emmett helped to redirect me.

After that my thoughts were consumed with memory. I remember the day in early May that he stomped into the garage, all arms and legs and puppy-dog ferocity. He accidentally knocked over a tray of tools and the clatter seemed to satisfy his rage and burn it out all at once. What followed was shame and embarrassment.

"Gosh, I'm sorry Rosalie," he mumbled as he retrieved tools on his hands and knees.

"Have another argument with Billy?"

His affirmative answer was murmured, but clear. So was his sotto opinion of his father's views on whatever subject in question.

"What was it this time?" As if I didn't know. But I said it because he was a boy, not libel to pick up on subtle cues and consistently insecure when it came to disagreeing with his father.

The boy snorted indelicately and sat back on his heels. As he spoke, his hands gestured wildly. He was like that sometimes, when he was upset. The wrench in his hand came awfully close to the Vanquish's paint job, but that could be patched up much easier than little boys could.

"He wants me to warn Bella off from Edward. Again. He says that the tribe is watching. But it's not like there have been any wolves in, like, three generations. I mean, what is he going to do, sneak up on you during the daylight that doesn't confine you, during sleep you don't take, in the coffin you don't have to try to shove a wooden stake through skin it can't pass? I mean _**come on!"**_

The boy had built up quite a head of steam. I just let him go off.

"And I mean, isn't there a treaty? Isn't that so we can both live peaceably? I mean, you guys let me come over here all the time, and you don't consider it an infringement of the treaty. And you guys are really cool. You're totally pro-human. We're pro-human. And, I mean, Dr. Cullen's like, saving people and shit every day."

"Language."

"Right. Sorry. But he is, right? But no, Dad doesn't care. Thinks I've been talking to Bella's dad too much - apparently he's very pro-Cullen, too. They got into a big fight when you guys first moved in, because Dad and the council decided that we shouldn't go to that hospital anymore, which is just, you know, like totally ridiculous. It's the closest one, outside of our pathetic clinic on the rez. But nooooo... The world's gonna end if it's a mythical cold one who sets my broken bone, right? Or not even, because he's not even the only doctor in the hospital - I mean, it's not that tiny. And he doesn't work all the time. What does he give off that they're so worried about? Cooties? Does he have cooties? Are we worried about vampire cooties, now?

"Rosalie, tell me straight. Do you have cooties?"

"No."

"See? See? Exactly. I ask a direct question, I get a direct answer, we move on. It works with vampire elders. It _**so**_ does not work with Quileute elders. And Bella and Edward - I mean, _come on_. Give me a break. You'd have to be blind or an idiot to look at them and imagine that that guy would ever, but _**ever**_ let anything bad happen to her if he could in any way, shape, or form stop it. I mean, _come on_. I mean, the two of them together - they're just... two... big... kooky... _doofuses_. They are like, _stupid_ in love."

"Do you know the terms of the treaty, child?"

The kid nodded his head in jerky motions. "It's part of our songs. I've heard it lots of times; more often now, though."

"Then you know that the treaty is contingent - among other things - on our family not biting any human being. Not simply killing them. We could, by the strictest interpretation of the treaty, kill someone. But we cannot bite them."

The kid stared at me. I could tell he wasn't following along. I briefly debated how much to say.

The child would be on the council one day. He is in the patrilineal line to be an important elder, if not the chief of the tribe, but that would not be for years to come yet. He would have no political pull until he was forty, at least, but there was time to build better relations until then.

I decided.

"There is only one reason that one of our kind would bite a human, if not for food, resulting in the human's death. Can't you guess what it is?"

"Is that... how you..." I watched as he gestured is the same hand that still held the wrench.

I nodded. "It's hard. Very hard. Few have the control to do it. Carlisle does. Obviously. But then, so does Edward." I let that sink in for a moment. "He looks the youngest, and he was turned the youngest, but he's the oldest of Carlisle's children, and the strongest in many ways. Jasper is seventy years older, but has no where near his control."

The kid was looking at the wrench in his hands.

"You mean... Edward's gonna... bite... Bella?" He was whispering, but I don't think he meant to be.

"Not without her permission. But then, she's already given it."

"Seriously?" he whispered.

I nodded.

"What happens if a vampire loses their mate?" he asked, and clearly his mind was now working along the lines I had hoped it would.

"I've heard it's like having half of your soul, half of your body ripped away. Not many survive it."

"Do they just... die?"

"No. Left to our own ends, we won't die. They go mad and are killed, or simply go and seek out death. Suicide, in our case, means having someone take pity on you - to rip you up and burn the pieces."

"So if Bella stayed human and died, or if something happened to Bella..."

"It would kill Edward."

"Whoa."

I said nothing.

"And... she's... really okay with this?"

"She says she is. It won't happen for a little while, yet. There are other things to be considered. She has another year - or more - as is."

"That would totally break the treaty, huh?"

"So long as the treaty remains unaltered, yes."

"Well, good luck with that." He sighed. "Ugh. It's just so... _**shit!"**_

"Language."

"Sorry."

"Continue."

"I mean... he wants me to crash your prom. I know it's coming up. He'll buy me a ticket and give me twenty bucks towards parts, all so I can tell Bella to stay away from Edward. And to tell her that we're apparently stalking her, now. Totally stupid."

I was smiling, now, because I had the most perfect solution for the kid. I heard Alice from inside the house call to me, "I'm on it!"

"Well. If your father insists you attend our prom, I think you ought to. No harm in that. And you can deliver your message to Bella, for all that we know she won't be heeding it, neither will she hold it against you. Before you leave tonight, let's get you measured for a tux."

And he was measured. And an hour before the gentlemen were due to pick up the ladies at the Swan residence, per orders Jacob arrived wearing the one dress shirt he owned. He'd already taken a shower, but was forced to take another one and wash his hair with something that I had picked out for him. Edward helped him to dry his hair - not something that had happened to him since his sisters left town, and he rode with Emmett in the Tesla to collect us all. It was all perfectly on schedule. He stayed in the car - we didn't want further complications with Charlie Swan, but when we finally stepped out of the car at the school, I surveyed the handiwork Alice and I had wrought.

He was a very handsome boy. He might turn out to be a very handsome man.

I took the single yellow rose, still tightly in bud that was stowed in the glove compartment. I opened the plastic container and put it gently on the seat. Tugging him closer by his lapel, I pinned the flower to him.

With the love of my life and the child of my heart one on each arm, we entered the school and made our way to the gymnasium.

I danced the first dance with the kid. We had practiced the basic form of the waltz in the garage, but he was nervous.

I smiled at him as we danced around the room, fully aware of the attention all of our family was receiving, but particularly the kid and I. "Alice wants the next dance, then Bella the third. You can let her know that the elders are irked with her choice of mate, and then you can both laugh about it."

He nodded and blushed, his eyes not meeting mine.

"Jacob," I called to him quietly. I had his attention, then. "After that, I want you to square your shoulders, smile that quirky, lovely smile you have when you think you've one-upped me in the world of car maintenance, and pick out any girl in this room that you want to dance with. I promise you, they'd have to be already stupid in love with someone else to say no to you. Alright?" I asked, quoting him in how he'd referenced Bella and Edward's relationship.

He nodded, grinning, blush still firmly in place.

"If you're a good boy and dance and have fun, I'll give you the keys to my baby at the end of the night, and you can drive it back to the house, or... drive some girl home, if you need to."

I could tell he was on the fence of embarrassment and stunned awe at the prospect. I don't think the irony of the situation had dawned on him quite yet - I was using the same tactics as his father. But hey, if it works, it works.

He'd driven the Tesla home that night while Emmett and I ran. The sweet boy had driven a girl home, but he wouldn't tell me who, and I didn't hear anything about her after that time. I'd identified her by scent a few weeks later - she was mousy and quiet, not bad to look at, but nothing spectacular. She didn't look like the type to date in high school. It was never brought up again.

Beyond that, there had been no drama. He had been arguing with his father more frequently throughout the summer, but not because the Elder Black had realized with whom he'd been associating so frequently. Apparently, his father believed that all this time was being spent with Bella, and seemed to approve of that. Even Charlie Swan, who otherwise seemed like a human for whom integrity was most important, even he covered for the kid, so much did he approve of our family and disapprove of the seemingly irrational tribal prejudice against us.

I liked Charlie Swan. I wondered what kind of car he might like to drive when he retired. When it happened, I would take care of it.

I would do it, whether or not we were still in the Olympic Peninsula at that point. He was a sweet man, and I had the feeling that his life was going to be entwined with ours until he was buried in the ground.

It made me wish I was a better fighter, really. That's the problem with adding people to your life - you then want to protect them. Not from everything, mind. Not from the weather, or old age, or the slings and arrows of this life... but being associated, even peripherally, with our family meant dipping your toes into an ocean that had all manner of predator in it. And perhaps the sharks were far off the coast when you dip your toes in. And perhaps they're not.

None of us really knew what the future held, not even Alice for all of her talent, or Edward for his insight. There were things that did, in fact, go bump in the night. The shifters here were pro-human, as the kid liked to say, but not everything in this world that was sentient and not-entirely-human was. I never really cared much about nomads, or the Volturi, or real werewolves, or other shifters, or any manner of the fae that flitted in and out of the periphery of our world. I toed the line, I never did anything wrong, I minded my own business and lived my own life without bothering anyone else, and I belonged to a powerful family who all similarly toed the line.

Except we weren't toeing the line just at present.

The Volturi, so I've been told, thrive on this sort of paranoia for us to self-regulate. But then, I'd also heard they weren't the most altruistic or unbiased judges, however much they also served as jury and executioners.

It would have been easy to lay this blame firmly on Edward's shoulders. He was the one who fell in love with a human, then refused to turn her immediately. Not that I was complaining about that, but it did necessitate him breaking rule number one. Technically speaking, I could point my finger at Edward, but you know what they say about pointing fingers - three more are pointing back in your own direction every time you do.

Which brought me back to the kid.

Edward, at least, was excusable. You fall in love with the person you fall in love with. It was obvious that they were mates now, and they both had a clear plan to turn her in the way and time that would make the least amount of fuss and ripples in the pond in which we dwelt. Surely the Volturi could have no problem with that. We were absolutely preserving the secret in more ways than one with that scenario.

But what would they make of the Treaty that Carlisle had made not so long ago? Did they even know of the existence of the Quileute shifters? Surely not, and surely they knew nothing about their unique ability to hunt vampires. That would not be information that would go down well in Volterra. I can't see Aro sitting back on his hands once he knew about that.

And here I had adopted one.

Who was now _one. Of them. A shifter. A wolf._

Hell, I needed to hone my fighting skills. Jasper would be my best bet. I could never fight like Emmett - his style would be useless for me as I could never boast the sort of strength my love had. Edward wouldn't be helpful either, even if he were available for training, as his style was based on the fact that he could tell what you were about to do the instant before you did it. Jasper used his talent to some extent when fighting, but he also had the raw skills aside from anything else. And he was used to training vampires in the art of warfare.

I was glad they were back, even for a few weeks. Unlike Alice, he wasn't consumed in any current projects. In fact, Jasper had been the odd man out this past week - now that Emmett had found his new calling as chef, seven of the eight of us were waist deep in work and projects and newfound love.

I spent the rest of the week waiting for the kid training with Jasper. For seventy-two hours going at top speed I had a crash course in the art of war. We never got much beyond theory, but I wanted a thorough education, which most certainly included the theory. Strategy and tactics certainly changed depending on your enemy, their ontology, age, experience, talents, numbers, and weapons at their disposal.

Jasper was certainly well-versed in the art of war.

He'd had first hand experience of human vs. human war in bygone days, and of vampire vs. vampire guerilla warfare. He knew how to train, subdue, lead, conquer and decimate a legion of newborns. He'd fought older, wiser vampires with various talents. He'd strategized, directed, and implemented the downfall of entire covens on their own territory. There was a reason there were no one but nomads left in the south of the States, no matter what Anne Rice liked to say, and it was due in no small part to Jasper Whitlock.

He'd killed an actual werewolf in Paraguay, not just a shifter, and he'd had a run in with human military soldiers in El Salvador. He'd saved a village that day. He cited it as his one selfless act, pre-Alice.

He even gave me the theory of war against the fae, and though I doubted the naiads were going to rise up in revolt against the vampires and shifters of the Pacific Northwest - you never knew. I listened. I drank it all in, absorbing it all, aware of Emmett flitting in and out, joining us occasionally.

I would have three more weeks of training time before the wedding in Vegas, after which Jasper and Alice would return to their South American search, for which they both had very high hopes. I was attempting to remain neutral - I really didn't want to get my hopes up that Bella and Edward would have a child, regardless of visions. Mostly I took this track because if it didn't happen, I'd be devastated, and I knew myself well enough to know it.

I had my hands full right now anyway. Jacob. Charlie Swan. The sleepy little town of Forks. The Quileute Tribe. All of these things meant something to me now, something they never did before. In general I valued non-violence over violence, but I also knew well enough to realize that if someone, some _vampire, _some self-righteous, egotistical, power-hungry _vampire_ was going to threaten the people I cherished, well... then that would happen. I couldn't stop it. But they would have to take me, first.

I had no talent to speak of. I had beauty, and bitterness, a family who humored me, a hobby I enjoyed, a mate I adored, and a human-cum-shape-shifter upon whom I doted. I had nothing that would recommend me to this course of action, except, perhaps a long-dormant mothering instinct to protect and common sense enough to see the writing on the wall.

So I studied the art of war, and I waited.

*

_**End A/N: **__"Now, Cinderella don't you go to sleep; it's such a bitter form of refuge. Don't you know the kingdom's under siege and everybody needs you?" _-The Killers, "A Dustland Fairytale" ...An excellent pair of lines from an excellent song that is most certainly added to my DESS playlist. What about you? What inspires you?

Thanks and love to all who nominated and voted in the Indies, and congratulations and peace to all who won!


	27. Drill Sergeant, Midwife, Bridesmaid

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, RPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

***

**Book Two:** One More Year 'Til Forever  
**Chapter 4**: Drill Sergeant, Midwife, Bridesmaid.  
**Beta:** Colleen P., wonderful.  
**Author's Note: **Hello. There's some amusing mental banter between Edward and Jacob in this chapter that for obvious reasons I couldn't put in the fic, but if you're interested in that sort of thing, I'll be posting it on the AU forum for this fic, hosted by Twilighted.

***

The sound of his howling pricked the hair at the back of my neck. I clamped down on the instinctive urge to run. Instead I made my way quickly outside. Bless their hearts, Emmett and Jasper were in front of the house with me only moments later.

***

"Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again." I had my hands on my hips and I was flanked by Emmett, Jasper and Edward. We all watched as the kid got better and better at shifting from his human shape to his wolf shape. He wanted to stop, but I was relentless. He would have control over this. He _would._

"I'm tired and I'm hungry, Rosie," Edward said in a flat voice that let me know he was translating for the kid who was currently in his wolf form.

"Well, what are you hungry for?" I asked, remembering that just an hour ago Emmett had all but lost his shit as I hand-fed a newborn werewolf.

What can I say? The kid was a little grossed out by the idea of going muzzle first into a dead deer, and he was also half-starved. I couldn't just let him suffer. So we went hunting, the five of us - well, really Emmett the kid and I. Jasper and Edward would help out if needed, but they were really there for technical support - translation and emotional control. And me, I fed him strips of raw venison. It was good I had such excellent reflexes, too. It meant that the kid got to eat and I got to keep my fingers.

"What are my choices?" Edward asked for him.

"More venison, raw, or Emmett's roast beef."

"Roast beef," Edward said.

"Should be done in twenty minutes," Emmett pointed out.

We started running back.

"Bella will be happy that you're eating with her. She was very worried about you," Edward said to the wolf softly as he ran next to him.

"Yes. That's still the plan," Edward replied, obviously to something that Jacob had asked him.

"Las Vegas."

"When was the last time you were home, Jacob?"

"Just answer the question, Jacob."

"Then would you say that if you were gone for the weekend, you wouldn't be greatly missed? Because it's not clear to me that your father would give you permission to come with us."

I heard the wolf snort as he ran, and I took it to be some sort of lupine laughter. We all knew the gist of the answer to that question.

"Well, then I certainly don't mind if you come, and I think Bella will be thrilled. But you'll have to ask Rosalie, because as much as I like you, Jacob, I'm not driving you down and back. That would be up to Rose and Emmett. I need my alone time with Bella."

"Oh, shut up you great smelly dog," Edward responded with the century of maturity he'd gained in his life. "All you're getting for Christmas is a collar and a leash."

More wolfy laughter. I do wonder what he said. The kid can be so damn witty when he wanted to be, and Emmett and I particularly appreciated the way in which it was no-holds-barred when it came to his criticism of Edward's libido. I found the kid very, very amusing.

"Do shut up."

More laughter, but no response from Edward, so perhaps the kid had knocked it off or toned it down.

When we reached the house, Edward darted inside while the four of us remained just beyond the tree line. Emmett wouldn't leave me while I was with the kid, and Jasper was there just in case. I heard Edward stop in the middle of his mission and I rolled my eyes. Of course he wouldn't be able to simply pass Bella and return to her in two minutes.

"Hello, love." I could hear them kissing, and her heartbeat elevating.

"Is everything okay? Is Jake okay?"

"Yes. He can tell you all about it in just a bit. He'll be joining you for dinner. I just need to get him some clothes from Emmett's closet."

"Why does he need clothes?"

"He's a rather large wolf, love. If he was wearing clothes before he shifted they certainly wouldn't last long enough to still be wearable afterwards."

"Oh. Wow. That... um... that sort of sucks... Come inside for a minute," I heard Bella say, which obviously meant that she had something to tell him she didn't want us - or Jacob - to hear.

"Excellent point. We'll tell Alice later on, and Esme will take care of it."

Obviously, whatever Bella's suggestion was had to do with a wardrobe for Jacob and one of the spare rooms on the third floor. It was an excellent point, and one I should have thought of myself. I would help Alice and Esme.

He would need his own stereo and television up there, as well as a king sized bed - the boy was now massive - as well as a very basic but very plentiful wardrobe. Jeans, tshirts, sneakers, and plenty of them.

Come to think of it, Jacob probably wouldn't be the only wolf. We might want to fix up the rest of the third floor rooms with comfortable king sized beds, just in case.

I'm not given to premonitions, or visions, or psychic feelings of any nature beyond being able to follow a logical progression of if-then statements, but very suddenly I had the feeling that we were all just at the beginning of something very large, and very intricate.

Emmett, I'm sure, would be happy to be running a werewolf bed and breakfast, but I wondered if it would go well or poorly with the tribal council, this urge I had to foster their changling children.

Well or not, they couldn't stop me from offering hospitality and comfort, empathy and love. It simply wasn't their call to make.

***

Four days later I got a frantic phone call.

"Rosie, I need you to come here."

"Where is here, Jacob?" I asked, stripping out of my overalls and cleaning up the mess I'd been making as quickly as I could. I didn't know if I'd need to run or drive, but either way I'd be as ready as I could for either one. Emmett. Emmett should come with me. He would be seven kinds of pissed if I did this on my own.

"Emmett, I need you," I called quietly with my finger over the mute. He was by my side four seconds later, looking pensive.

"The Rez. I... shit. I'm supposed to be in charge of this, but it's not going like mine did. Mine was... I mean, oh, geez. Rosie, did you do something? I mean, I kind of remember you doing something. Before you left me at my house that day. I mean, did you pull some special vampire mojo magic on me? Because my process was a hell of a lot easier than what Sam is going through right now."

I knew Emmett was looking at me with a questioning expression on his face. He knew how I'd felt about using our powers on humans. Aside from Jacob, I'd never ever done it.

"Yes," I admitted quietly. "I used a sort of persuasive influence on you so that whatever peace there could be had in the situation, that you would have it. That you wouldn't resist. Everything is always harder when you resist what is."

"Would you be willing to do it again? As a favor to me?"

"Of course I would. No favors. But are others around? I don't want to endanger the treaty, Jacob."

"You did it before without asking."

"That was for you." I didn't say that I would do anything for the kid. At this point I figured I didn't have to say it.

"Well, don't worry about the treaty. This is allowed."

That did not make sense. "You have permission?"

"Permission has been granted to you, yes," he said and the passive nature of his statement made me wonder what on earth was going on, politically, in the tribe right now. I really wanted to know who granted permission, but now wasn't the time.

"And to Emmett? You know he won't let me do this by myself."

"And to Emmett. Run, and I'll meet you by the border on the main road."

We started running right then. I cupped my hand over the speaker so the sound of the wind wouldn't affect our conversation. "We're on our way. How far along is he?"

"Farther than I was when you left me. His girlfriend's dad is an elder with my dad, but no one realized it wasn't just the stomach flu until... like... thirty hours after it started. As soon as they suspected it, they sent for me and the moment I walked in I could tell his smell was changing, just like you noticed mine was, back in the garage. And so we've started to prepare for the ceremony, but he's suffering so much more than I did. I just... I don't want him to suffer. Not if I can help it."

"Where is he now?"

"At the site of the ceremony. It's in the forest, near the water."

"Are there many people there?"

"A couple of the elders, yeah. Including my dad. His dad is there, too. He's not on the council, but he used to be."

"And they're okay with us being there?" I asked, somewhat shocked.

"Okay would be a stretch. They've accepted it. Let's leave it at that."

And then we were there, and I could pinpoint Jacob by his scent. He was waiting for us just out of sight of the road wearing a pair of jeans that Alice had gotten for him and nothing else - no shirt, no shoes. He pocked the cell phone and with no hint of modesty stripped the jeans off. He handed them to me, the question on his face. I didn't mind. I imagine holding the denim in his teeth while he ran was something less than desirable. I folded them quickly, such that the phone wouldn't accidentally slip out of his pocket and watched him shift fluidly and effortlessly into his wolf form.

He was off and we followed, chasing at first, but very quickly we flanked him, Emmett and I, on each side, and we formed a subtle vee, allowing him to precede us.

I could smell the smoke of the fire and the incense before we got there, and once there I could hear the beating of four hearts and the pounding of the ocean. Jacob stopped three hundred feet away and shifted back into his bipedal form, quickly throwing on his jeans.

Two male elders sat in old aluminum lawn chairs around the campfire, and one more in his wheel chair. On a thick blanket near the fire with only a sheet covering his modesty lay a large young man. He wasn't nearly as large as Jacob had become, but he was sweating profusely and moaning. His face was an essay in agony.

We followed as Jacob strode forward. The elders remained seated and glared at us.

"I have brought my trusted friends. They aided me in my own troubled transformation. They are here to aid me again. Their coming here fulfills my request and breaks no treaty. They come with compassion in their hearts to do a good thing for a stranger. They are welcome on our land, today. They are Rosalie Hale McCarty Cullen and Emmett McCarty Cullen, of the cold one tribe of Dr. Carlisle Cullen. They are no threat and bear no ill will. They are welcome."

"They are welcome," his father echoed back through clenched teeth.

Jacob seemed to relax a bit after that. I filed away his rather formal speech in my head to consider later on. It was curious. I would discuss it with Carlisle and Emmett at great length once we returned.

Jacob came closer to the fire and crouched down next to the young man's feet. "How is he doing? Any change?"

"A little worse," one of the men in the lawn chairs replied as the other one stared at Emmett and me.

"What is it they're going to do to help?" This from the one who was staring.

Jacob looked at me and from his expression I could tell he wished me to answer.

"We have a way of... being convincing. It doesn't always work. The more self-aware and present minded a person is, the less it works. When Jacob had begun his transformation, still early on and before I left him, I convinced him to be at peace. He believes that this helped him and that he suffered less for it."

Jacob beckoned me to the young man.

Before I took a single step, Emmett asked a quiet question.

"Does he need to be restrained? Is it possible that he will shift, yet?"

"No," Jacob replied. "It will be another twelve hours at least."

Emmett nodded and took my hand up briefly to squeeze it. I squeezed back. He stayed where he was as I came forward and slowly knelt at the shoulders of the young man. I folded my torso over my legs and with two fingers took hold of his chin and turned it toward my face, which was very close to his, now.

"What is his full name?" I murmured.

"Samuel Uley," someone said.

"Samuel Uley, open your eyes," I said, my voice a gentle command. He did, and I could see the dark irises were wide. I tried to go to that place, emotionally, that I had been in when I'd done this for the kid. "Relax, Sam. Accept that you are becoming one of the proud guardians of your people. Be at peace," I said, trying to summon my most convincing tone. I breathed on him and his eyes closed again, but his shoulders seemed to relax. His heart rate was still elevated, he was still sweating, but there was a discernible change.

I sat back on my heels and released his chin. Jacob scooted over next to me and slung one arm around my shoulders.

"Thanks, Rosalie. I owe you one."

"No, you don't." I turned my head and kissed his temple softly. The child of my heart could never owe me anything.

My actions prompted gasps, whether of outrage of simple shock I did not know, and did not care enough to check by shifting my attention to their faces.

"What will happen?" I asked him quietly as we knelt next to his fellow changling.

"In about twelve hours he'll start to shift. I'll stay with him, tend the fire. I'll shift with him and we'll run. I'll teach him to hunt," he said, grinning up quickly at me, sharing our secret.

I had taught Jacob how to hunt. The Cullens were his pack, in lieu of no one else. That was what I had said to him last week.

He was quiet after that, and I said nothing for a moment.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" I asked him quietly. Again with the gasps from the peanut gallery.

The kid - who really no longer resembled a child - looked long at me, then back to Emmett, then to me again. "Do you want to stay?" He asked, turning my question back on me.

Emmett was quiet. I knew it was my call, and he would stay or go dependent on my wishes.

"Yes," I said simply, tempted to qualify it with my desire not to fuck with the Quileute elders, not to offend the tribe, not to create yet another obstacle. Yet, I didn't qualify it at all, in the end. I wished to be present to support Jacob and it was unlikely that any harm would come to me and Emmett. Also, I was very curious.

I watched as Jacob entered a staring contest with his father. Eventually the kid said, "You can stay, then."

"And Emmett?"

"Of course," he responded.

"Not the male," one of the elders protested.

"They're a package deal," Jacob ground out. "They are each other's imprints. Emmett stays, if he wishes to."

"Where Rosie goes, I go," Emmett said, quoting quietly from the book of Ruth.

When it was clear that all assembled had accepted our presence as inevitable, I took out my cell phone. "I don't want Carlisle to worry," I said. _"New Werewolf. Am with Jacob & Emmett standing vigil. Treaty intact. Will check in tomorrow." _My text was concise, if nothing else.

And then we were quiet.

I removed myself from the immediate vicinity of the changling and stood by Emmett. I reached out and took his hand, and after that we did not move for the next twelve and a half hours, not needing to maintain a facade of human twichiness.

Still, only moments after I moved, I watched Jacob get up and and take a bundle of dried herbs from his father and light it from the small fire in front of us. He lit it, allowed it to burn for a moment, then blew out the flames so that the incense could smolder and smoke.

He came back to the young man and kneeled down next to him, halfway between his head and his feet. The kid's father in the wheelchair started chanting in a language I did not recognize but quickly stopped, and Jacob repeated what he'd done, exactly. It was the same tone, the same rhythm, and the same words. They continued for two hours, and it was clear to me that Jacob was learning this ceremony. In the two hours, the full chant was repeated six times. I don't know if he had it memorized yet, but I certainly did. Now I wish I only understood it. Still, I know that Carlisle would be interested in the chant as well.

When the chanting was finished the elders left in silence. Each one touched the kid on the shoulder as they passed. No one looked at us.

The kid maintained the fire in silence.

Finally I asked Jacob the question that had worried me.

"What do you remember about this part of your own change?"

He was quiet at first. "Hurt like hell, the first time, like my body was self-destructing. It was painful and confusing and I wondered if it was going to kill me.

"Honestly, you know, I don't know if I should have two feet or four for this. With him, I mean. I mean, should I be talking to him, telling him that it's okay? Telling him what is going on? I mean, that might have helped, you know, for me? Or should I be furry and just lend moral support that way, you know? Maybe, maybe if the first thing he sees, or feels is another wolf, maybe that will be a good thing, you know?"

"What if I talk and you shift?" I asked.

"I like it," Jacob decided, getting up from the fire and unbuttoning his jeans. He patted the pocket to make sure the phone was still there. He folded up his jeans very carefully before gracefully shifting to his other form.

Jacob sat at Sam's feet and I made to get closer to his head, but Emmett placed one hand on my shoulder. I stopped and took his hand in mine, pulling him up next to me. I squeezed his hand and released it, knowing he would want both to be free, just in case.

"Sam, you're a shapeshifter now," I said softly. "It's hard this first time. It's painful. But it won't always be painful. It will happen very soon, now. Just let it happen. You are safe, here. Jacob is here. Jacob Black, Billy Black's son. He is the large russet colored wolf who is sitting at your feet. You're very special Sam, even if it doesn't feel like it right now. You are part of the very special guard of your people.

"I am Rosalie. My husband Emmett is here. We are friends of Jacob. I know we smell wrong, but we are friends. We are safe. We mean you no harm. You are safe.

"Very soon now, Sam, very soon. You will shift for the first time. It will hurt, but then it will be over and it won't hurt any more. The discomfort will end. The pain will end. The suffering will end. You will shift into a wolf. You will go running with Jacob. He will teach you what you need to know."

The young man on the blanket began to tremble violently. He screamed. He writhed. His body stretched. His muscles contorted. Emmett pulled me back twenty paces. It seemed that before Sam changed into his wolf form, he was changing into his human form, and he was becoming even larger than Jacob. He now _looked_ every bit as old as Jacob _looked._

I wondered if the process would be less painful if the wolf in question was actually twenty-five instead of fifteen and nineteen.

I watched as his body finally quieted and eventually relaxed. That was the moment it happened. The wolf form flooded out from within the human form. It didn't look like it hurt at all. And Sam as a wolf was even larger than Jacob, who could give a pony a run for his money.

For a long time the two wolves simply stared at each other. I wondered if they were somehow communicating. I wonder how it worked for wolves.

And then they both shot off into the forest, Jacob first.

I looked at Emmett to find a single brow raised on his features. "Okay," he said.

But then we heard a yip from the forest. I couldn't be certain but I thought it was the kid. I looked at Emmett again, and shrugged. Being without Edward in this moment was a serious handicap.

"Home?" I asked him. He nodded.

But then I saw Jacob at the edge of the trees. He barked at us and circled around once, then once again.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Do you _see_ Edward around? Do I look like I speak wolf?"

Jacob shifted form long enough to speak before immediately returning to his quadruped state. "Come hunt with us!" he called in a happy voice.

"I could eat," Emmett conceded.

And then we ran.

***

By the middle of September there were two more wolves. The kid was still the undisputed Alpha, and we were only just coming to understand what the implications of that were going to be. I was a little worried. Even though he now looked every bit of a strapping twenty-five year old, he was still not yet sixteen. In some respects he was wise far beyond his years and he certainly had more compassion that the average human being, but he had his moments of extreme emotional immaturity. He lost his patience more than he ought to, this now being a dangerous activity given the fact that when he lost his patience his hands turned into claws.

Sam was the kid's second-in-command and he... was not quite the man Jacob was. Still, he was thoughtful and seemed to be taking the extreme challenge to norms of his culture regarding us in an amazing amount of stride. Not everyone would have the kid's willingness to see who we really were, but Sam was giving us a chance and in the meantime refraining from badmouthing us around the reservation. Apparently this... refraining... was an activity that he took up with some amount of vengeance.

I learned that the Alpha's word was law, but in more ways that one. It was an enforceable law, should the Alpha choose to speak _ex cathedra_, as it were. The kid did that once by accident - forbade Sam and Paul (back when there were just the three of them) from speaking ill of us without reason and based only on old prejudice. And then he found out that they were _physically unable to do it_. Sam wouldn't, on principle, but Paul tried once, while fighting with the kid.

The kid was horrified. It was a degree of control over another human being (more or less) that he never wanted to have the option to wield. He rescinded his proclamation and made it a firm request. And bless him, if Jacob laid down a rule, Sam enforced it.

And now they were a pack of four.

The kid still wasn't talking with his father, not after their last fight, which admittedly wasn't as bad as their first after he turned. Billy Black had said the wrong thing at the wrong moment, that first time. He'd pointed out how pleased and proud he was that his son was the first to turn in three generations. He'd shown his relief that the tribe would finally be able to protect the good people of the Olympic Peninsula from the evil Cullen tribe of cold ones.

Wrong thing to say to the latest adoptee into the Cullen Family.

Wrong thing to say to the volatile newborn werewolf.

The only scars that Billy Black bore were emotional ones, but it was a close shave. It took two days for me to convince the kid he ought to go back, despite the horrific conversation he'd have to have. The conversation that was the fodder for the next several fights between father and son.

Jacob was brutally honest. He came clean about everything - well, not the DVMR or Bella's long-term plans, but everything that pertained to his own relationship with us. He assured me that he emphasized all of the things I'd done for him, with him.

And as they fought, more of the young Quileute men turned. Emmett and I were there for them all.

Billy Black _didn't_ know about Edward and Bella's pending marriage, and he didn't know that the kid was going to be accompanying us and would be out of town for a few days. It was just as well. But there was a complication, nonetheless.

Sam.

Sam trusted us, but only so far. Sam was open to new experiences, new understandings of us, but this state of mind was new and still quite fragile. It was a trust I had no wish to abuse, neither did Bella, who seemed to be taking quite an interest in the ongoing Cullen-Quileute political saga.

And so it wouldn't be only the kid who would be coming with us. Sam would be coming, too. Edward filled me in on his reasoning last night. It wasn't a complete lack of trust. Sam was more with us than I gave him credit for, but certainly the pack was strained. Because the kid knew about Bella's intention to become a full member of the Cullen Clan, the whole pack knew. The whole pack also had Jacob's perception that the Cullens were tame and Edward would never harm her, beyond the obvious, it still wasn't enough to overcome a lifetime of built up prejudice.

So Sam was coming along with us. Not only was he coming along with us, but he was also going to act as legal witness to the marriage. The kid pouted, but recognized that as he still wasn't anywhere close to eighteen years old, the option wasn't open for him. I was there when he found out from Bella and Edward. Bella had given his hand a squeeze and pointed out that the _next time_ she got married, he could act as witness.

We wouldn't all fit into the Tesla, so I traded with Carlisle and while he and Esme enjoyed my beautiful baby, I drove the Mercedes. The kid and Sam looked like they might have enjoyed Emmett's Jeep more, but I rolled my eyes. We had luggage. Besides, the shaded windows would be necessary. The desert wasn't known for its cloud coverage.

Jasper and Alice drove the Volvo, and Edward and Bella led the caravan in his Vanquish. We made it to Las Vegas in seventeen hours and forty-five minutes. We might have been faster, but we were traveling with people who had to be plied with food and restrooms, so obvious concessions had to be made. Still, it was all going to be just a quick trip. We drove all day Friday and checked into our hotel late that evening. Wandering around in the desert sun was tricky, but thanks to Alice we managed to be stylishly well-covered. Even Sam was provided for, albeit in a slapdash fashion that pleased Alice not at all. She still wasn't used to the fact that when wolves were part of the equation all her planning was for naught.

Sam and the kid were curious about our skin's reactivity to sun, so Saturday morning on the way to the wedding chapel that Alice had picked out and made reservations with I pulled them aside on the sidewalk, had the boys and Emmett form a tight circle around me, and had Emmett hold the modern parasol Alice had picked out for me. I removed the sheer glove from my right hand and in the privacy of the circle of bodies, displayed my hand in the sun outside of the shadow of the parasol.

Both boys gasped.

"Stop showing off and get in here," Edward called out from several yards away. I wondered what he had heard in their minds. There were days I was slightly envious of his talent. Not often - it was more often a curse for him than a blessing, but sometimes I was just so curious.

And shit, if he could read them, he could read me now. Well, Edward, I thought, if you tell anyone _that_ I will no longer feel compelled to restrain Emmett when he's feeling particularly witty in regards to your personal and sexual life. So you can please keep that to yourself.

I glanced over in time to see the slight nod.

Good man.

"So you don't just... burn to a crisp in the sun, huh?" Sam asked quietly as I replaced my glove on my hand and took the parasol back from Emmett, allowing him to escort me into the chapel. The boys followed closely behind us.

"No. Myth," I said. "There are a lot of myths that have little or nothing to do with the fact of our existence. I'm sure _you_ can appreciate this."

The kid laughed.

Sam sighed. "So... " But he never finished the statement.

The ceremony was quick, covering all of the legal necessities, few of the sentimental ones and none of the religious ones. I knew Bella wasn't the big white wedding type, but frankly I was surprised that anyone would be content with the seven minute legal contract creation that this was. It was next to no time at all before Edward and Bella signed the marriage contract, followed by Carlisle and Sam as witnesses. Everyone had shown identification at the beginning of the ceremony, and to his credit the officiant didn't blink at all when it became obvious that Bella had only been in her federally-defined majority for a handful of days, and Edward for a handful of months. Young love, and all that.

We spent the rest of the day in the casino.

Though of course we did not breathe a word about just how Edward, Alice, and Jasper worked the tables - Edward in the most obvious manner, but Jasper and Alice from afar, she seeing when people were becoming suspicious and Jasper relaying comfort and complacency to the dealers and managers as much as could be written off with ease before moving on - work the tables they _did_, and my boys watched on from afar.

"What do they do with all the money?" Sam asked me at one point as we idly played the slot machines together. Emmett and the kid had wandered off to see what sort of food was available. I swear, the next thing I knew Emmett would actually be eating the substances he was preparing for Bella and the pack.

"This isn't our only source of income, of course, but it can be lucrative. We invest it. We donate it. We spend it. It's not my forte, but Alice and Edward manage it for us. If you're really curious, they would both be happy to talk with you about it."

He was silent for a long time. I didn't know what he was thinking, but I knew what I was thinking. I just had no idea how to address it tactfully. While I wasn't always known for my tact, I also didn't want to deeply offend Sam over an issue such as this.

"There's a significant disparity between the Cullens and the Quileutes, isn't there?"

Sam pushed the slot machine's lever button. I remember when slot machines had actual levers...

"On a lot of levels, I imagine," he finally responded.

"Hmm," I responded in the vaguely affirmative.

"You know that Jacob is like family to me," I stated. I pushed my own lever button, but won nothing. "Like the son I could never have."

"So I've noticed, yes."

"I plan on helping him go to college, if that's what he wants."

"Good luck on getting him to accept it."

I smiled slightly. That the kid might be resistant to my help hadn't escaped my awareness.

"I speak for the family in my wish to do more." I left the subject of my statement open ended.

"Good luck with that, too." Glad to see Sam was on the same page, anyway.

"What is needed?" I asked.

Sam snorted. "Industry. More jobs. Better jobs. Better tribal schools. Better healthcare. Greater accessibility to college. More resources available to the entire community."

"What is the tribal council doing about that?"

"As much as they can with next to no resources."

"What if they had resources?"

Sam looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "What if they did?"

"Could they be prepared, for instance to do long-term financial planning, to grow the wealth, distribute the resources? Are there entrepreneurs who only lack capital?"

"Absolutely."

"What would the circumstances have to be for them to accept the resources to start it off?"

Sam sighed and sat back in his chair. "This is bigger than me," he conceded.

"And it's bigger than me. Doesn't mean it can't start here, though."

"It would be easier if it were money like this," he said, waving to the slot machine in front of him. "Money with fewer strings. And..." But he trailed off.

"What?" I finally prompted.

"Maybe - _maybe -_ it could be presented in the context of the coming breach in the treaty," he said, referencing the change in ontological status Bella would endure in the next year or so. "Not as a direct trade, but a good faith gift emblematic of our new relationship with one another."

Sam was definitely good to have around.

"How would you define our new relationship with one another?"

"Well," Sam said slowly and softly. "It's clear to me that there are two distinct kinds of... cold ones. There are those who respect human life as precious, and those that don't. It is clear to me that you not our enemies, as some very obviously are. In the past we have been very... tentative in our estimation that you were not the enemy. Tentative, but willing, so long as we remained inflexible in our guard. I no longer agree with the elders that we must be inflexible in our guard against you, and indeed, all who share the color of your eyes. I believe that you mean us no harm, and that you mean no harm to anyone. I agree that there are those we should not trust, there are those we should actively hunt when they range near us, but you are not among them. I believe... I believe that there should be a lasting friendship between our two peoples."

I smiled at that. "From your lips to the Great Spirit's ears," I said quite sincerely.

"The Great Spirit needs no convincing on this matter. It's our elders who need convincing." He paused then for a moment, studiously examining the gambling apparatus before him.

"Did Jacob tell you that he is the de facto leader of our tribe, now?"

I blinked at that. He hadn't mentioned it, no. I shook my head.

"He is. Because he is the Alpha. But he is so young, still, so it is not quite the case. The council is divided on the matter. If he were three or four years older it wouldn't be in dispute. If his father backed him in his views, it wouldn't be in dispute. But I think... I think if I support him unequivocally before the council... Perhaps. Perhaps. I don't know. It is not an easy matter, nor a clear one. We are not a dictatorship. We lead by consensus in the council. Still, if perhaps the council would accept..." He shook his head. "I don't know. Everything is so... difficult right now."

I wondered if he was talking about tribal politics or his more personal imprinting situation. I'd heard about that from the kid. Talk about fucked up.

But then, that's life, right? You can't choose who you fall in love with, and you can't control other people's reactions. And sometimes, people get hurt. Few people want it to happen, few people go off on trying to hurt people on purpose, but we all get hurt now and then.

Emmett and the kid returned while I was still thinking it over and Sam wandered off to get food with them and Bella. I went to seek out Carlisle. I had an idea about how we might stay in this area for much longer than normal. There was one place, after all, where Carlisle might practice medicine that was already aware that he would never look a day older than twenty-four.

The tribal clinic.

The soon-to-be expanded tribal clinic, if I had anything to do with it. I'm sure he'd love to do some research on the healing properties of the Quileute wolves, and I know he'd be willing to run a formal or informal training program in health and surgery when it comes to mythical creatures. There had to be more shape-shifters than just the Quileutes.

So many possibilities. So many possibilities.

***

We were strolling through the fifth casino. Our bags were already in the cars, and we'd checked out of the hotels already, but we still had three hours before we needed to leave Las Vegas and return to Forks. We'd each gone our own ways, but when I saw Sam I linked my arm through his and we walked together slowly.

"What is it like, to imprint?" I asked quietly, not wishing to upset the newborn wolf, but genuinely curious. I wanted to know how similar it actually was to a vampire finding her mate.

Sam shrugged.

I waited.

"I really loved her, you know?" he whispered some time later.

I was quiet.

"I was... God, I know we were young, but I was looking long-term. She was exactly the sort of girl I would have wanted to marry. She _was_ the girl I wanted to marry. Our families get along great. Her little brother is like my kid brother, her mom is awesome and her dad has the best fish fry on the rez. I loved her. I loved her with everything I had. I gave her everything... all of me... I... we..." he trailed off and was silent for a while.

"But it was like living an entire lifetime in an eclipse. In the absence of the sun, in the absence of even knowing there was a sun and what it might be like, I gave all my love to the moon, which was the only thing around that deserved it. And it was good, and beautiful, and right... And then... the sun came out. And I never knew what hit me. It was like a switch had been flipped and I could never go back to thinking the sun didn't exist, that I didn't revolve around it. Because I do. I revolve around her.

"All of the legends say that while it's not mutual, it _is_ inevitable, but I don't know. She won't even talk to me. In my case the sun and the moon are cousins; best friends.

"Shit, it's a mess," he said on a sharp exhale.

I nodded silently.

"It's... different for us. I don't know how much Jacob knows, but it's... we're different. It's sounds like you... before you imprint... you can have a crush, you can fall in love, out of love, have relationships that perhaps have potential or perhaps don't, and you might not know on the first date or the third, or even in the second year. It's not like that for us. Eclipse or no, we don't gaze up into the night sky and flirt with the stars. It's simply the empty vacuum of space, nothing for lightyears in any direction, nothing at all, until one day we're caught up in orbit around something, some other star, some other black hole, some other barren piece of rock, and then there is no turning back after that. There's no mistaking it for something else, because there isn't anything else for us. We get lonely, we can make friendships, we can have sex, but the only time we feel an intense pull is the one time we'll ever feel that pull. And maybe if you're lucky like Emmett or Bella, you never have to live in this world without your other half. And maybe if you're not so lucky, it takes you a century or three, like it took Edward and Carlisle."

"That's not so different after all," he said.

I raised an eyebrow.

"We both end up in orbit around the ones we love. And it's absolutely impossible to tear yourself away."

"That is true."

"What would you do if something happened to Emmett?"

My answer was immediate. "Go insane with grief." I'm not as strong as some. Emmett is my strength. He is my solace. He is my anchor. On the bad days, he's the only thing that exists.

"Yeah. Yeah.

"I don't know what to do about Emily," he whispered. He sounded broken. "I don't... I... she _hates me._"

"Yes. I'm sure she does. _But, _she won't hate you for long. Be persistent. Persevere. And when she starts talking to you again, bring her to visit. I want to meet the source of your light."

He nodded and we were silent for a moment before he spoke. "I've hurt Leah so badly."

"She'll get over it. Or she won't." Sam glared at me sharply, then. "What? It's true. We all get dealt shitty hands sometimes. I'm sure you didn't ask for this huge, furry change in your life. But you had two choices: to get over it and move on, or get stuck in it and don't. No matter what happens in life whether we find it pleasant or unpleasant, no matter what happens the first step is to accept it and not resist. Denial is for the weak and fearful. I happen to understand this first hand. We can't actually deal with the reality of our situation if we're busy denying that it exists. Accepting it doesn't mean we have to _like_ it. We just have to acknowledge that it is what it is. Then and only then we have a hope of dealing with it - motoring through it if it's unpleasant or enjoying the hell out of it if it's pleasant. But make no mistake, it's something we each have to do for ourselves. You have to do it for yourself, and Leah has to do it for herself. You can't do it for her."

Sam snorted. "You're pretty wise for a nightmarish undead cheerleader."

"That's _Ms_. Nightmarish Undead Cheerleader to you, _Second." _If only Emmett were here to make the inevitable link between Sam's title and an unmentionable bodily function I no longer have. As it was I could practically hear Sam's eyes roll from here.

***

That weekend the only people to use the hotel rooms as more than a staging area for showers and changes of clothes were the boys and the happy couple, who in fact, after about four in the afternoon on Saturday, we did not see again until we all left at two on Sunday afternoon. They weren't planning on going on an official honeymoon until next year, of course, and there was a pool going on, regarding the location that Edward would choose. Good money was on Isle Esme, but the yacht itself was a close second.

No one had decided yet, but I was willing to lay good odds that there would be another, much more public wedding before this time next year. It only stood to reason - in that vision that Alice had about the birth of the twins, there were a lot of people in that room. There were wolves, and at this point I could probably name them for you, and there was Charlie, along with the usual suspects. Now, I can't see Charlie taking Edward getting Bella pregnant outside of marriage without also trying to take a shotgun to Edward, an awkward proposition, and make no mistake.

Now, the fact that Charlie was in the room when his daughter gives birth to twin half-vampires with a werewolf midwife had also not flown under my radar. I wondered just how that conversation was going to go, and who was going to hold it. What I wouldn't give to be a fly on that wall.

Clearly a lot would happen between now and then...

***

**End Note:** Iffn you're curious about the mental convo between Edward and Jacob from the beginning of the chapter, hop on over to the forum in Twilighted and check it out - I'll be posting it there shortly. Also, keep a heads up for another outtake!

And, you know, if you'd be so kind as to leave a review, I'd love it.

Oh! One more thing. (Just one.) This is probably the end of the RPOV. We'll be back to Edward in the next chapter, I think. ::cringes at sound of raucous cheering::


	28. Telling Charlie

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

***

**Book Two:** One More Year 'Til Forever  
**Chapter 5: ** Telling Charlie  
**Beta:** Colleen P., wonderful.  
**Author's Note: **If you are interested in knowing what I now think Edward sounds like (yes, he still _looks_ like Mr. Pattinson), please head toward iTunes and subscribe to the free iFic podcast. Listen to Boycotts & Barflies, or the One Shot episode. (Particularly check out the first 'chapter' in the One Shot episode if you're wondering what Edward sounds like when he's talking dirty to Bella.) BeCullen and I are both in agreement on this one - the Canadian fan named Oz who does the voice for the EPOV, and one of the EmPOVs... we find him suitably inspiring. Go. Listen. Tell me if you agree.

***

God, I couldn't get enough of her. The more time I spent inside her body, inside her mind, the more I _wanted _to spend within her in every way possible. We had successfully spent the entire summer wrapped within each other, every few hours changing venue - our bed at my house, our bed at her house, pausing so Bella could eat, so Bella could sleep, so Bella could recover. One day a week was devoted to her chores, but I couldn't bear to be idle away from her when I could be wrapped within her mind while we spent time with one another, even from across the room, so we shopped together, we cleaned together. When her father was home, on those evenings she wasn't at my house, we snuggled on the couch together and chatted over the baseball play-by-play, sometimes with Jacob sprawled out on the other end of the couch (still eating, always eating, the boy never stops eating), but we always deftly avoided the presence of his father. Charlie was complicit, but it seemed to be bothering him less and less.

And we hunted together.

I got hard each time I remembered it, and each time I remembered our weekly hunting trips I was also filled to overflowing with such a profound sense of gratitude for Bella's presence in my life that it defied words, it defied language. There was no phrase in all of the languages with which I was familiar that could properly describe the level of gratitude I experienced that Bella and I were so perfectly matched, that as she knew me more and more deeply she loved me more and more deeply.

When school started up again, Alice and Jasper had already been home for a week. They would be leaving again the Monday after the wedding, back to the forests and jungles of South America to search for some evidence that there was some precedent to the twins' birth. They hadn't been successful at all this summer, but they were going to continue their search in Brazil from here on out, and Alice had a good feeling about it. For the sake of our cover, Jasper was already gone off to college and Alice was doing her senior year in Mexico City. Depending on where Alice and Jasper had gotten in their search, we were considering taking the whole family - possibly including Bella, as I couldn't bear to leave her behind, nor could I bear to not go myself - down at Christmas. But we would have to see about that.

I had every class with Bella. She tried to negotiate a solitary gym period, but I pointed out that I couldn't miss just one class with her, it would have to be two to be able to avoid that one period, and two would be two too many. I soothed her with the very valid point of my consistent grade in gym class: B-.

She laughed.

Still, I was thrilled that our gym classes were completely coed - we wouldn't simply be across the room from each other, we'd be able to be next to one another. We would be so close to one another playing the games together, and Bella looked cute in her skimpy gym shorts. I wondered how she would look come spring in a swim suit for the swimming unit. Who knew - perhaps my gym grade would improve this year.

In the first week of September, I created the perfect opportunity, warning Bella ahead of time of what I needed to do. She wasn't overly pleased about it, but once I made it clear that this was not something over which we could negotiate, she grudgingly accepted my resolve.

"Charlie, can I bend your ear a minute?" Bella was in the kitchen doing the dishes very, very slowly, allowing me this time to speak privately with her father. I had promised to give her a play-by-play afterwards, no matter how well or poorly the meeting ended.

Charlie turned the volume on the Mariner's game he was watching down three notches. I came over and perched on the arm of the couch.

"I hope you know by now that I love and respect your daughter very deeply."

Charlie's eye brow went up, but he nodded. I couldn't get a sense of what he was thinking, other than that he was mildly suspicious.

"And you've probably observed that she feels a similar way about me."

He raised both eyebrows at that, giving me a look that said, 'yes, any idiot could see that.'

"Well, I wish to ask your permission, or really, your blessing, for something I'd like to do."

I couldn't pick up any words, but I knew that Charlie had figured me out. I could see the image of a diamond ring in his mind. I wondered if it was the ring he'd given Renee. Still, it didn't make this conversation any easier.

"For Bella's eighteenth birthday, I wish to ask for her hand in marriage. I don't intend that we should marry immediately," I lied. "But I'm somewhat old fashioned. We're talking about going to the same school, and... instead of trying to get into the dorms, taking an apartment together. And I just... I really don't like the idea of living with Bella without making the commitment to be married - or at least announcing my intentions." Absolute truth.

Charlie took a deep breath.

"I figured this was coming, though I didn't anticipate it so soon." _Too young! Too young! Too young!_ I could hear him thinking loudly. I waited.

"You're a good kid, Edward. I like you. And I appreciate the fact that you're already eighteen, and Bella will be eighteen shortly, so whatever you do after that, well, you are adults. Do you think you're ready to take on the responsibility of a wife, maybe a family? What do your parents think about this?"

Okay. This is not what I expected.

"I'm sure there is much about married life that will surprise me, and certainly when we have children, well, I've heard that nothing you do can prepare you adequately for that experience. But my family is _very_ supportive of me and Bella," I said, understating things to the extreme. "And I know that they would all do everything they can to make Bella feel comfortable, and give whatever help they possibly could.' I laughed unintentionally, thinking of all my family had already done.

Charlie raise an eyebrow at me. I scrambled, not that he was aware of it.

"My sister Alice, she's got it in her head that Bella and I... that we're going to have twins. We've been arguing over what to name them."

Charlie snorted. "What does she want to name them?"

"Renesemee and Carlie," I said with disgust. "Not that I don't like all of our parent's names, but I really don't think we need to combine them like that. I'm rooting for Elisabeth Marie and Charles Sebastian."

"I hope you win," he commented dryly.

"It's happening, slowly but surely. It's inevitable. I'm willing to negotiate, but I am _not_ willing to name my daughter Renesmee, nor my son Carlie. I mean, _seriously."_

Charlie laughed. "What are you planning on studying?"

"Music," I said. "I know it's not great in terms of income, but I have a trust fund that would allow Bella and me to live quite comfortably for any number of years while we follow our interests."

"Has Bella got any interests, outside of you and reading?"

I smiled. "You know, I think Bella would make quite a good diplomat, actually. She's quite good at dissecting tense situations between groups and finding positive, painless ways of connecting those two groups back to one another."

"Really?" Charlie asked, sounding slightly stunned.

I smiled, nodded, and quirked my eyebrows. "I look forward to seeing how that talent of hers develops over the years. I think she's quite naturally a peacemaker."

Charlie only nodded. "When would you two be getting married, then?"

"Well," I said slowly, "that depends on a lot of things, I suppose. She has to say yes, first, though I don't think she'll refuse me. And I'd like to go with her sometime soon and meet Renee. If things work out that way, to be honest, I would love to go to college as a newlywed. I know that some might say it would be impossible to get the 'real college experience' that way, but I've never been one to party, or drink myself into oblivion, or ignore my studies, and neither is Bella. I would be happy to focus on Bella and my music alone, without the distractions of the skewed priorities of our cohorts. If I had it my way, we would be married next summer, take a nice, long honeymoon and then go off to college."

When Charlie put the remote down and stood up, I followed him. He stuck his hand out to me. I took it. His handshake was firm, but he wasn't trying to prove anything.

"Welcome to the family, Edward."

***

Bella and I were excited to be married. To her it seemed to be a landmark, a step, a bend in the path that would lead to the rest of our lives. She didn't attach to it particular significance beyond this, and that made a certain amount of sense.

We were getting married in secret, after all.

Few of her friends and none of her family would know. We were going out of town to do it, and the only non-Cullen who would even be present would be Jacob Black, Alpha of the Quileute Pack and honorary Cullen. Though Alice was taking care of the details, there were very few details to take care of. We were all driving down to Las Vegas in a caravan for the weekend. There would be hotels, and I'm sure Alice would be dressing us for the occasion. I'm sure we would have some fun in a casino at some point - Bella was very, very curious about me in a casino. And of course, Bella and I would spend some quality time in our honeymoon suite.

But still, she wouldn't be wearing a ring afterwards, she wouldn't be changing her name until next year and to the rest of the world - school, home, friends, family, nearly everyone but the Pack and my own family - we would simply be dating steadily.

There was really only one thing, one benefit we got from this marriage - the contract itself. There were over a thousand legal rights conferred to a married couple instantly and automatically at the federal level and over four hundred at the state level - though that varied, depending on which state we happened to reside in at the moment. The single right I was most concerned about was the declaration that I would be officially her next-of-kin, with a right to see her no matter what in a hospital, and the right to make medical decisions for her, should she not be able to do so for herself.

My nightmare, my one and only nightmare was that something would happen to Bella and that she would be trapped in a hospital, dying, where I would not be allowed to visit her, where I would have to break her out, where the family could be exposed, where her own family would suffer for imagining her kidnapping, her suffering. Perhaps it was a farfetched fear, but Bella was particularly accident prone, and even though I had taken great pains to foster good will with her father, a man I now honestly respected, there is nothing I would not sacrifice to have Bella by my side.

It was clear to me that if something did happen, if I had to call upon my rights as her husband, at that point our marriage would no longer be secret, and an unexpected unveiling was bound to be ill-received... Still. That was the lesser of two evils.

So, we would go. Quickly and quietly we would go on a weekend we were to be camping anyway, we would go to distant city in a another state where we were not known, where it would be a simple and easy thing to have the marriage contract created.

Alice was thrilled at the prospect of getting to procure _two_ wedding dresses for Bella. Bella was thrilled at the prospect of two exceedingly small weddings with no muss, no fuss, and very few frills. Initially I had thought to try and persuade Bella to allow Alice to have her way, but very, very quickly I understood how deeply uncomfortable that would make Bella. After I knew that, there was no way I could recommend any other course of action. I did not wish Bella to be uncomfortable at her own wedding. That was a ridiculous notion, and when posed thusly, Alice conceded my point.

She was allowed to procure for Bella a very simple white dress for the first wedding, and a slightly more elaborate one for the second. I would have a suit for the first and a tuxedo for the second. No one was allowed to match for the first, but Bella allowed for attendants at the second. Bella would be willing to hold a small bundle of flowers at the first, and Alice could do whatever she liked for flowers on the second.

Bella rationalized that Alice couldn't possibly go insane with something the likes of flowers. I knew that Bella had a long way yet before she understood her sister Alice.

Bella had refused music on both accounts, and the second ceremony she hoped to have in our living room.

We both agreed on a no-frills wedding chapel in Las Vegas - which Alice would arrange for - and agreed that as soon as we had presented the idea to _both_ of her parents and set on time period, if not a date, then at that point we needed to go and have a confidential conversation with Pastor Weber. He was the politically expedient choice, and I was clear with Bella that it was important to me to have a minister. I would have preferred an Episcopal priest, as it was the church of my parents, my youth, and Carlisle's as well, after a fashion, but the closest one was in Port Angeles; St. Andrews.

Bella argued with me on this point.

_Baby, if what you want is a certain kind of priest, and that's the only opinion you have on our second wedding, then why on earth can't we do that? Hmm? You know I have no opinion at all on this - Renee is former Roman Catholic and you know she can't stand anything of Christianity, no matter if it's good or bad. I was exposed to religion, but only because I was a curious child. But I don't feel any particular allegiance to any particular description of God._

I smiled at her and kissed her lips. Just the other day we had had a fascinating conversation on liberation theology. Bella had been expanding her reading tastes and while I'd been reading up on string theory, she'd been reading a biography of Oscar Romero. Bella was appalled at the atrocities that had occurred in El Salvador in the decade of her birth, and appalled that she never learned anything about it in school, and appalled that her own country was so complicit. I was thrilled to watch her blossom, to watch her eyes open to the world.

When she pointed out her desire to do a comparative analysis (not her exact phrasing, but the intent was there) on the number of human deaths attributed to vampire activity versus the number of human deaths attributed to war, I crowed with laughter. She had just swatted me and returned to her reading, her book propped against my stomach.

I had laughed because I was right. I was so right. Bella _was _a peacemaker, and to be a peacemaker you first had to understand what you were dealing with, you had to see it with eyes wide open.

*******

Bella had argued about her birthday that year.

_Baby, I can't describe to you how much birthdays don't mean to me._

I snorted at her. She glared at me, daring me to elaborate.

"_One hundred and five_ ring a bell, my darling one?"

And, yes. I still had the capacity to make Bella blush.

"If we get to celebrate my birthday, we get to celebrate yours, love."

_Well, then, can we just do it the two of us? No body else, no big deal, no major presents? The night before - that Friday night before our wedding in Vegas, can't we just do it then? You... and me... and the honeymoon suite?_

"I might - _might - _ be willing to negotiate with you on this, my love. But you have to agree to accept wedding presents from the family both times. With no limitations on the presents," I said, cutting off her thought of doing just that.

She mulled that over in her head for a moment, her mind zipping through the pros and cons. "Deal," she said.

_Does this mean I won't get special birthday lovin' on my actual birthday? Cause I think I ought to, you know. It's not so much a present or a celebration as just... you know... just a little treat._

I cocked a single eyebrow at her. I would not call the the festival of sex that was my birthday weekend 'a little treat'.

_Please__?_

I twisted and rolled from where I was laying on our bed and discarded the book I'd been reading before we got to talking. I pinned Bella to the bed, her hands above her head, wrists held securely by my fingers, her legs pinned at the thigh, my knees on the outside by my shins crossing over and my feet inside.

"Maybe," I growled at her. "Charlie's already asked me to make a special dinner that night. He's invited Jake over."

_Not Billy too, though, right? _ She was worried suddenly, and her thoughts interrupted my words.

I shook my head slightly and continued on. "After a long day of cooking, I'm not sure I'll have much energy left to perform spectacular silent sex all night long until the dawn breaks in the eastern sky... But you know, Bella," I said, my voice still low and gravelly. I could smell the effect it was having on her and it only made me grin further. "I _could_ see my way to accommodate you. Especially if you were to gracefully accept whatever gift I give you before dinner."

Her eyes narrowed. _Not a new car._

I wasn't even going to go there. I was going to save that until the second wedding. I shook my head. "After all that work Rose did on the truck? No, sweetheart. You've got a while yet of driving that thing."

She laughed, despite herself. She wondered, barring a car, how bad it could really be. I could tell that she was starting to be reasonable.

_Okay. But I get spectacular silent sex all night long, then._

I grinned. "Make sure you take a nap Sunday afternoon."

She did. That day I made Julia Child's signature recipe, boeuf bourguignon. The asparagus with hollandaise sauce was a perennial favorite, the garlic bread fried in butter and then topped obscene amounts of freshly grated parmesean cheese just seemed like a good idea, and of course I planned on baking Bella a cake. It was a confection of dark chocolate and hazelnut and I had a strong feeling that it would go down well. To nibble on before hand, because Charlie loved my appetizers and because I loved feeding them to Bella, three different kinds of miniature quiche. It would only take four hours.

Bella came down that afternoon just as the quiches were coming out of the oven. The bread was prepped and I was about to make the hollandaise sauce, but that could wait a few minutes.

Bella was greeted by a chorus of hellos from her father and the alpha, who were watching a baseball game on TV.

_Edward? Mmm... what are you making, baby? It smelled amazing all the way upstairs. _

I grinned. I knew. I'd heard those thoughts, too. Bella was rarely coherent and aware first thing when she woke up, and though normally her mental chatter simply included me as the sole recipient of her stream of consciousness, when she first woke up she still was piloting on automatic. Her thoughts were truly her own, utterly uncensored, unaltered in those moments. I was eternally grateful that she allowed me to be in her head for those thoughts, too.

Bella wandered into the living room first and the round of greetings happened all over again. I brought the tray of hors d'oueurves into the room.

"Happy Birthday, Bella," I murmured upon sight of her.

_**Edward!**_ was her happy mental sigh. She darted to me to try to embrace me, as it had been nearly twelve hours since we'd last seen one another, but she tripped. No one in the room was surprised. I caught her. No one was surprised about that, either, except that Charlie snatched the tray out of my hand. It was Jacob who had the witty rejoinder.

"Edward catches Bella, but who catches the quiche? I ask you."

"I got it covered," Charlie remarked before he popped one into his mouth and offered the plate to the wolf.

"Oh yeah, that's the goods," Jacob said, eating one and grabbing another. "Damn, Edward," he remarked upon eating the second.

_Thank you, Edward,_ Bella thought, but I couldn't figure out why she was thanking me. I gave her a quizzical glance.

"Come on," I said, tugging her around toward the sofa where the wolf sat. He was on one end and I sat between him and the other end.

_Where am I supposed to sit, then?_

I tugged on her hand again and guided her fall into my lap.

"Oof!"

Charlie snorted and Jacob rolled his eyes.

"This is serious business, Bella. You know Jacob will eat it all if you don't get some, soon."

"Just a testament to your excellent cooking skills, Edward. You could give Emmett a run for his money. But don't tell him I said so. He might never make me roast beef again."

Charlie chortled and passed the tray of food over. I scooped up one of each quiche in my hand, knowing Bella wouldn't want much. Then I did what I dearly enjoy doing. I fed Bella.

This time we were laughing with her father and the alpha, and there was a baseball game in the background, but she had an arm thrown around my neck and I was wrapped in her mind even as her body curled atop my own.

"Do you want to open your presents now, or after dinner?"

_Silent, spectacular sex as soon as everyone leaves... _"Now would be fine."

She opened Charlie and Renee's first. It was a beautiful, high-quality camera, and even though Bella was chagrinned that they had spent so much on it, she was also pleased at the thought of taking pictures of the next year. Then she opened my gift. My mother's charm bracelet, complete with three carat diamond, which Bella mistook for a crystal. I would have to correct her at some point, but I would have to choose my moment well. And the the alpha's gift - we had coordinated. Jacob had hand carved a charm for her bracelet - a howling wolf. Bella laughed, gave everyone a hug and insisted on pictures right then, just after I had affixed the new charm and put it on her right wrist.

I took a picture of Bella and her father, then he took a picture of Jake, Bella, and I - one serious with small smiles, one incredibly goofy where we all made strange faces at the camera, and then Jake suggested... well, he made a suggestion for the next picture and I truly thought Bella was going to attempt to kick his ass, right there in front of her father.

"Dude, that was awesome! You know what we should do next? I got it! I got it! It'll be Halloween early, totally awesome. I'll be the werewolf, Edward, you be the vampire, and Bells, you can be the damsel in distress!"

"_**Jacob Black!" **_Bella screeched, and I just stopped - stopped breathing, stopped moving, stopped everything, but Charlie... laughed.

_Oh shit! Oh, shit! _"I don't want to be the damsel in distress," she ground out, trying to cover for her outburst.

"Come on, Bella, it'll be fun. You guys can practice for Halloween this year. You have to admit," Charlie said, pausing and looking at me briefly. "Edward would make a good vampire."

_He did __**not**__ just say that!_

Yes, yes he did.

"Well, fine, wolfboy. If you're content to be furry once a month, and Edward's okay to sleep in coffins, well, then I want to be something interesting!" She was petulant, but I could see what she was doing, bless her. My wonderful love was playing up the mythical untruths so as to hide the mythical truths behind them.

"Like what?" I asked, finally finding my voice. I glanced over at Jacob and threw him a glare. He just crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. He, too, had an agenda, I could tell from his look, but I dare not come out of Bella's head. It was too volatile a moment.

"I wanna be..." _A mermaid. No, to passive. Something good, something good. Medusa. No, no, no. A succubus... no, definitely not. A sir-- _"A siren."

Dear God, the imagery went straight to my libido.

_Play along, Edward. Get out of my head for a minute and look like a predator for the camera. This one gets framed. Feel free to growl a little._

"Give us a second to get into character, Dad. So, Jacob," she said, turning to him. "Exactly how do you intend to represent the werewolf within without, you know, like a mask and gloves?" She smirked at him.

"I figured I'd howl at the moon," he said with a grin.

_Dude, man. Trust me on this one. Trust me. Rose told me all about the birth of the twins, you know? He's there. Best to ease him into the information, don't you think? Plant a few ideas? Shit, man, are you even listening? You're probably not listening. Aw, hell. Well, I guess I'll explain it later anyway to Bella._

I bit back the groan at his thoughts and wondered how convincingly he was planning on howling, and what he could do with human vocal cords. I was betting he could do quite a lot.

Bella turned to me, hands on her hips. Charlie was laughing harder now, across the room and behind the camera. "And you, sir? How exactly do you plan on portraying your role?"

"Well," I drawled. "Since I don't have any fangs with which to _bite_ you, and I have no idea how to turn into a bat, I suppose I have to settle on looking very, very menacing. Perhaps I could growl, too. Might be a nice counterpoint to the alpha wolf's howl," I said trying to affect a tone of great sarcasm. "And you, young miss?"

"Who are you calling young?" Bella asked, her eyes flashing.

"If I'm going to be a bloodsucking monster," I drawled again. "I should at _least _get to be the oldest one in the room. I should be at the very least over a hundred."

"Looking good old man," the alpha snorted with glee.

"That's _Mr. Cullen_ to you, young pup."

He and Charlie were both laughing now. "Oh, I _am_ sorry, oh venerable vampire elder. Whatever can I do to wipe out this offense?"

"I'm sure I can come up with something," I said.

"Anyway," Bella said, interrupting. "Isn't anyone curious about how I'm going to pretend to be an ancient, mythical, Greek water witch?"

"Tell us," I said, even though it was pretty fucking obvious to me.

"I hope it doesn't involve singing," Charlie said between guffaws.

"Ha, ha, ha, no it doesn't. It involves being my fantastically alluring self, thank you very much."

"Well then, Miss Swan," I said, my own voice lower. "Shall we?"

"Yes, yes. I need a moment to get into character. Jake, pull yourself together. Edward, think: blood; yummy. Dad, you ready to take a picture or two?"

Or two? What the hell were we getting into, here?

But then loudly and clearly I heard Bella, even outside of her head. She was imagining the last time I had taken her hunting with me. The sex was raw and delicious and very bloody like it always was on Saturday night, the night I hunted. She imagined me pumping into her even as I licked the animal blood from off her skin. Superimposed onto this memory were different memories. Memories of me begging her - begging to come, begging for her touch, begging for her lips around my cock, begging to lick away all the blood from within her heated core.

Bella took a sharp inhale in and looked to the camera, swimming in the memories. She looked.. delicious.

And I let that flood my senses a little - not too much. It was impossible to let it flood completely with the alpha present. His scent was a most serious killjoy when it came to this, but it didn't stop the predator from emerging.

Before Bella started fantasizing, I was going to go for camp, but now...

With a hand tightly on the leash, I took the muzzle off the monster and let it out of the cage.

My eyes snapped open again to Bella and my fingers rose, unbidden to trace the pulsing artery in her neck. So tender. So fragile. You couldn't see any of the scars. I never left a single scar on her tender and delicious skin. Only last night my teeth had sliced open this artery right here. Only last night I had let my mouth completely fill before sealing it again, sealing her skin. This blood was mine. It was _mine. _This artery was mine. This neck was mine. The girl was mine. Mine. _Mine. _We would marry next week. I would give myself to her. She would give herself to me. _Mine. _I growled.

"Whenever you're ready, Jake," Charlie said. I noticed he wasn't laughing anymore.

As the alpha howled and Bella looked into the camera smelling like sex and looking like dinner, my own eyes flicked up at the camera in annoyance. I slid closer to Bella and held her neck more firmly from the back, my thumb still tracing the line of blood just beneath her tissue paper skin. I snarled and the camera snapped a picture.

_**Act human!**_ Bella yelled in her head as she zipped over to the couch and flopped down on the corner closest to her father's recliner. I let myself back into Bella's mind and sighed in relief, then laughed for Charlie's benefit.

"Wow, I felt really silly - how about you guys?" I asked with a grin. I was walking around to the back of the couch.

"Nah, man! That was totally fun! I totally know what my Halloween costume is going to be this year." With that, Jake crashed back onto the other side of the sofa and threw back the rest of the quiche.

Charlie was silent and contemplative as he handed Bella's camera to her. I was behind her now, with my hands on her shoulders. I tapped the back of her neck, our little sign to do when we could that would reassure her I _was _in her mental space. She liked to know, and sometimes it was obvious, but I didn't like to leave her wondering if I could help it.

_Quileutes are going to have to find a new alpha, because I'm going to kill that kid. Of all the stupid stunts to have pulled, this one takes the CAKE!_

I grinned. "I'm going to go put the finishing touches on dinner. Should be ready in fifteen minutes, or less.

Three minutes later I heard Charlie get up. Bella didn't really register the movement beyond the fact that the minute his back was turned, she was kicking Jacob and hissing his idiocy to him. He was trying to explain himself.

Charlie came into the kitchen, and his behavior immediately struck me as strange. The game was on, Bella wasn't in here, he hadn't finished his beer, and dinner wasn't ready. In the Charlie Swan universe there was no other reason to come into the kitchen, unless... Well, _I _was in the kitchen.

I slipped out of Bella's mind to try to tune into Charlie, difficult though it always was. I needed to see if we had to avert crisis with the police chief. If so, I was making Jacob do it, the silly newborn wolf cub. I knew that somebody had to be alpha, but dear God in heaven, I wasn't sure Jacob was ready for it.

His mind was murky. There was nothing there to pick up. He wasn't thinking anything in particular with enough strength for me to hear it. When it came to Charlie Swan, I really think the man had to be yelling in his mind for me to pick it up. Right now I'd be willing to bet that I was going to be coming face to face more with the chief of police than the my soon-to-be father-in-law.

Still, I tried to listen. The commotion from the other room had stopped, so I knew I wasn't the only one.

He came into the room and opened the refrigerator to retrieve another can of beer. We both knew he hadn't finished with the first one, and we both knew that he wouldn't have a second one until after dinner.

Still, once finished, instead of popping the top and returning, he closed the door and leaned against the refrigerator. His arms were crossed.

"Dinner sure smells good," he said, beating around the bush.

"Yes, I've moved on from the Joy of Cooking, though I find there is no less use of butter in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, either."

"You're a smart kid, Edward."

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Were we really going to be having this conversation, now? _This_ one? _Now? _I breathed normally and fidgeted slightly, but not enough to indicate the nerves I was feeling.

"Thank you, sir."

There was a lengthy pause, and I shifted the bread in the pan, adding some more butter.

"So where are you from, originally? Not Alaska," he said, and it wasn't really a question.

"No, I'm originally from Chicago. It was there that Carlisle adopted me."

"Must not have been too long ago." Charlie the potential father-in-law never spoke this much. This was certainly a very gentle interrogation. I think he meant not to put me on my guard.

"We didn't spend much time in Alaska, no. The snow was getting to my mother."

"How strange it must be for you. You already had one set of parents, and now you have another."

I shrugged, deciding to go for honesty. "They are my family, but I don't really consider them my parents, I guess. I only call them that because it tends to freak people out if I refer to them as Esme and Carlisle, as I do at home. Though certainly, Carlisle has been my best friend since I've known him, and he is a father figure, but we're too close in age and experience for me to ever seriously call him 'Dad', if you know what I mean."

Charlie made a little huffing noise that I assume was affirmation.

"That was quite an impression of a vampire you made back there."

I nodded. "I thought Jacob was quite good, as well. Very convincing howl. For a moment I almost believed he was a werewolf. He's certainly large enough."

Two could play at this game, Jacob. If you want to out me to Bella's father, be prepared to have the favor returned.

"He has had one hell of a growth spurt, hasn't he?"

"Yes, and so quickly, too. Carlisle was very interested in speaking with him about that."

"Your father - well, Carlisle, he's keeping an eye on Jake?" I couldn't tell from Charlie's tone exactly what he thought about that."

"Oh, definitely. Carlisle finds him _very _interesting. But really, Jake's friends with the whole family, but especially Rosalie."

"Isn't she a little old for him?"

"Oh, no, not like that. Rosalie and Emmett, well, they're a couple."

"Still?"

"Seems like ages." I plated the bread and put some more butter in the pan for the asparagus. While I waited for it to melt, I granted the cheese over the bread.

"Do you remember back, oh, late February, early March?"

_Oh, Holy Mother of God, _I thought in a panic. The nomads.

"That was right after Bella moved here," I confirmed.

"Hmm," Charlie murmured. "There were a couple of murders, not in town, out and about, and it wasn't my case, but we were lending a hand. Looked for all the world like bear attacks, but one was impossibly placed. There was no way a bear could have gotten into the superstructure of the Mill. Later on, we found a bare human foot print."

"Sounds creepy," I remarked, adding the asparagus.

"It was. So creepy it was... almost... supernatural."

I raised one eyebrow and looked over my shoulder at him, most of my physical attention still with the last preparation of dinner. "You don't strike me as the type to believe in ghosts, Charlie."

"I've seen some strange things, Edward," he countered calmly. "I don't know that I spend much energy _believing_, but I do have my suspicions."

"Any you care to share?" I asked gingerly.

Charlie snorted, but sounded thoughtful. "Maybe. Later."

"Well," I said, tending the asparagus which was almost done, now. "I'm sure that if there was something not quite human that was responsible... Well, bureaucracy is one of the constants of the universe, isn't it? I'm sure they were dealt with by their own," I said, not quite meaning to have the note of finality in my voice that I did, toward the end.

It really did feel better than it ought to have done, ripping out the tracker's throat.

"Dinner's ready," I called out to the two who were listening in the other room.

Bella came to me immediately and gave me a look that said she was speaking in her head, but I only embraced her with one arm, leaned in to place a chaste kiss on her forehead and scratch gently at the back of her neck. Now she knew I _wasn't _inside. She gave me a worried look and took the bread to the table before she sat down.

Dinner was... interesting. I could tell that Charlie was trying to make and effort, but I wasn't going out on a limb to assume that he was also thinking too hard.

_Sorry you had to endure twenty questions, Edward,_ Jacob said before taking his first bite. Then he heaped praises on me for the food. _Dude, _he began again, partway through the meal. _If you need me to, I can just shift in front of him. I mean, it beats out letting him see you eat, you know? But he's going to know eventually, right?_

Yes, Jacob, but we had another year. Another _year,_ for heaven's sake. Another year to build our trust, another year for subtle hints to drop, another year that Bella and I got to spend together covertly and without any additional interference from her father who until this very evening approved of me wholeheartedly.

At the end of dinner, Jacob and I cleared the table, and then I brought out the cake. Jacob went and fetched Bella's new camera and laid it on the table.

"The cake is beautiful, but I really don't need a picture of it," Bella remarked dryly.

"We never got a picture of just you and Edward," the alpha pointed out.

I had already sat down again, with the cake in front of me. I had been about to cut into it and serve it to the other three when Bella came around the table and draped her arms around my shoulders. She dropped a kiss on top of my head then stayed partially bent as she rested her chin on the top of skull. I picked up one of her hands and brought it to my lips, smiling. That is when the alpha took the picture.

We all sang Happy Birthday before we ate the cake - a concession Bella had made in lieu of candles and wishes. Very quickly afterwards the alpha and I made our excuses.

Out on the porch after Jacob had rumbled away in his rabbit, I held Bella in my arms and sunk back into her mind.

_Better? _she asked.

"Infinitely," I whispered, no longer bothered with the drudgery of the neighbor's fears and anxieties. "How did you know?" I asked. I rested my forehead against hers, which worked well as I was one step below her.

_Sometimes, I... I don't know. I just know. I mean, it's not like I can feel you in my head, or something. It's just that I... you just... You're more relaxed when you're inside of me, and sometimes I can tell. Besides the fact that, you know, I can tell if you're having a __**moment**__ with the blood lust._ She thought of all of the Saturday nights we'd spent together out in the woods.

_Which reminds me, what was up with the photo shoot in there? What on earth made you think it would be a good idea to go all Vampire in front of my father? I mean, I thought maybe you'd do it, you know, a little bit. I've seen you do it a little bit, before._ Her tone didn't seem angry - more incredulous than angry.

I sighed and dropped my head to her shoulder. "That wasn't planned," I murmured. "But I never lost control," I said, quick to assure her. No one was in danger at any point. "It's so much easier now, to say nothing about the fact that I had eau de wolf in my nose," I mused. "Speaking of which," I said before pausing. "Wash your hair?" I asked in a pleading voice.

She groaned. _It looks horrible in the morning if I go to bed with wet hair! _

I couldn't disagree more. "You are always incredibly cute, Bella Swan, including the morning after you go to bed with wet hair." Normally I wouldn't ask, but she'd hugged Jacob today, and so his scent was clinging to her.

I was about to say something glib, and hopefully sexy, about Bella, her hair, her bed, and my promise to make love to her all night long, but I heard a curious thing. Charlie's very quiet steps toward the door. He stopped just at the door. My guess was that Charlie was eavesdropping.

"Are you picking me up for school tomorrow morning, or am I picking you up?" I asked changing the subject. Bella gave me a look and her thoughts were vague and suspicious, but she didn't voice a concern via either medium.

"Why don't you pick me up? That way I get to sleep a little longer."

"You sure have been sleepy today," I teased her.

"The more I sleep, the more I dream of you," she said sweetly and out loud, and though she hadn't voiced it definitively, she was on the same page, now.

"You know, you could spend more time awake and you wouldn't have to dream," I pointed out with a grin on my face, moving in to brush my lips against hers for the briefest moment before pulling back again.

"Well, maybe I like dream-Edward better," she teased right back.

I smiled, but it didn't go to my eyes. "You know I'd do anything for you, _be_ anything for you."

_Love you, love you, love you, love you. I was teasing, baby. _"I know," she said simply, and I thought she was going to leave it there. "But I lied. You're much better than my dreams, and you, Edward, only ever have to be exactly who you are.

"I love you, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, I love you just as you are..." she pause, and I heard what she was about to say just before she said it. My eyes went wide. "...monster and all."

Her voice was soft, but not soft enough that her father might not hear.

I was incredibly conflicted, but of one thing I was certain, and so it was the one thing of which I spoke.

"I don't actually have words to describe how much I adore you. If I were to write a book of my love for you, it would have to be perpetually unfinished. There would always be more to say; a different spin, another nuance, a new-found depth of my devotion. There are many things in this world of which I am unsure, Isabella, but not my love for you. It is as constant as the planets in their orbits. As long as I exist in this world, to the very end of my days, Bella, I will love you."

"I know," Bella said, and left it at that. Her mind was silent. Her smile was slight, but genuine. I think she knew that while what I said was true, it was not for her benefit alone.

"I know," I echoed right back. I leaned in and kissed her properly, my tongue seeking out her own.

_Oh, angel. Hurry back, sweetheart._

I pressed my body close to hers, keeping her steady and stable, anchoring her in my arms.

I did hurry back, and found that Charlie had said nothing to her that night. We were silent that night, and as it turns out, Bella did not sleep at all. I brought her a cup of coffee from the diner that morning, knowing that she would need an extra cup before her first class.

The week crawled by and still Charlie said nothing. Bella and I spent Thursday evening at my house, but I returned Bella early so she could actually sleep. We had arranged with Charlie that I should come by the house at four in the morning - we were driving quite a ways into Oregon to go camping, or so Chief Swan believed - and needed to get an early start.

I came from home laden with three steaming hot breakfast sandwiches and a thermos of coffee already blended with cream and sugar the way Bella liked it. Emmett had started breakfast for the alpha and his second - who would also be accompanying us - at three. I had only just left Bella to go home and pack the car, but I hadn't woken her. I would leave that to her father. She was already packed, just a small bag, as she typically 'used our camping gear' and really, Alice had a bag for her already in the trunk of my car.

Charlie was waiting for me on the porch. He raised an eyebrow when I stepped out of the Vanquish. I grinned. "Some of the other cars are in the shop," I lied, "so I get to drive this one today."

I let the grin fall naturally from my face when he didn't seem to find the humor in the situation. He was quiet as I approached.

"Edward," he said in greeting. He was sitting on the step and he didn't get up. This had been a week for odd and out of character behavior from the Swan patriarch.

I came and sat down next to him, handing him one of the sandwiches. "Compliments of Emmett," I said.

He took it in his hands and looked at it, wrapped in aluminum foil. He turned it over and over.

"Promise it's not poisoned," I whispered.

He only nodded. "Do you _eat_, Edward?" His tone was almost completely flat.

I swallowed back my own nerves and stared straight ahead. "I eat," I replied.

"_What_ do you eat, Edward?" Again, the tone was almost completely flat. Almost.

"Venison." The conversation seemed to be happening in slow motion. Perhaps that was simply because each of our replies to the other seemed to be wrapped in silence.

"It's Jake's favorite, venison. Aside from Emmett's roast beef," I added.

"He's not like you, is he?"

"No, no we're very different."

"There's a reason the Quileutes don't like your family, isn't there?"

"Yes."

"And there's a reason Jake _does_ like you, isn't there?"

"Yes."

"What is that reason?"

"Bella," I said. It all came down to Bella.

"Why Bella?"

"Bella has no stomach for prejudice without reason. I told you, she's a peacemaker. She's done phenomenal things, already."

"Is she in danger?" Charlie asked bluntly with the same level of emotion as all of his other questions.

I could not say no. There were innumerable dangers all around us at all times, and not all of them were supernatural. Instead I gave the honest answer that I could. "Our family poses no threat to Bella, nor do the Quileutes, and I would die before I let anything harm her. She has inspired a similar loyalty in my family, and in Jacob's... _friends."_

"Jacob's friends?" he asked, obviously picking up on that.

"Surely you've noticed that certain members of the Quileute tribe... have... grown up quickly over the past few weeks?"

"Wondered what was in the water over there."

"It's not in the water," I whispered.

"Drugs?" Charlie asked.

I shook my head. "It's genetic." I paused, then decided to go for it in the chill of the dark morning. "It's a genetic response to my family's presence. It doesn't matter that we're vegetarians. It's still genetic. Carlisle thinks that in the end there will be sixteen of them." A two-to-one ratio is what he thinks would be required, absent all other factors, for the wolves to take down the average vampire.

"The murders last spring... did they..." he trailed off.

"No," I said, shaking my head.

"Did you..."

"No."

"Then, the one who did..."

"Dead," I whispered, wondering where this would lead. "Burned. Nothing more than ash, now."

Charlie chewed on that for a moment. "Are you... is that... is that your job?"

"No," I said. "Though we respect human life and prefer to live quietly."

"Then... why?"

"Bella," I said. It always came back to Bella. My world revolved around Bella. "They threatened Bella. After that, it was quick."

"Is she alright?" Finally, emotion from Charlie. His anxiety was palpable.

"Oh yes. She's fine. She didn't see anything, but we discussed it. She knows."

"Does she know _everything?"_

I smiled. "Yes." I almost laughed, but the mood was still too somber, too heavy. It came out as a sigh, instead. "She guessed it all on our second date."

"What are your intentions?" he asked, and the emotion was gone, again.

"I want what everyone wants, I think. I want to love Bella, to marry her, to raise our children together, to live out our lives in peace. I want to be happy. I want Bella to be happy."

It was very quiet on the porch steps for quite a little while.

"How old are you, Edward?"

My answer was delayed as I thought about that for a second. "Older than you, Charlie. But not as old as Carlisle."

"How old is Carlisle?"

"Not as old as some, but he has the respect of even the oldest. Carlisle - you may not be surprised to find out," I said as an aside looking over at Charlie, now, and then back out to the dark yard, "is the most compassionate one of us, by far, and maybe one of the most compassionate beings on earth. Saving lives is perhaps his greatest joy."

"He's a good man," Charlie said.

"Yes, he is." I paused. "Perhaps he'll tell you his story, one day."

"Don't know if I want to hear it, or not."

"As you like."

"What is Jake?"

"He's not a werewolf," I said quickly. Charlie sighed in relief. "He's a shifter, and he can only shift into a wolf. He's young yet, but he's got a good heart. He was the first, and he's got a patrilineal claim to it, so even young as he is, he's the leader of the pack."

"The pack that's growing," Charlie remarked.

"Yes," I said.

"Are they dangerous?"

"Cubs can be... _volatile_, but essentially, no. They are the natural guardians of this area and always have been. We have a treaty with them, though. Carlisle forged it with Jacob's great grandfather."

"Then why does the tribal council hate your family so much?"

"They are wise to be wary. We are one of only two families who maintain the diet that we do, who respect human life every bit as much as the Quileute pack does. Billy Black doesn't trust us as much as his grandfather did, nor as much as his son, for that matter."

"So Jake knows... everything?"

"Yes," I said, nodding. "My sister Rosalie, they've become quite close. She helped him through his first change. It's quite painful, I hear. He's invited her to all the subsequent ones, to help ease the suffering. The tribal council doesn't love that, but... Jacob Black is now the head of the tribal council."

Charlie finally unwrapped his sandwich and took a bite as he digested this information. "Tell Emmett thanks," he said after his first mouthful was gone. "You two really learned to cook for Bella?"

"I learned to cook for Bella. I think Emmett learned for himself. And maybe for Jake and Rosalie." I shook my head. "Alone, that kid eats a lot, but you add the pack? They can decimate a refrigerator in a day."

"Wait until there are sixteen of them."

I snorted. "Emmett's looking forward to playing host at the Cullen Bed & Breakfast for Misplaced Mythological Beings. I wasn't lying when I said he was considering culinary school. He is."

Charlie laughed around the remains of his breakfast sandwich. I handed him another.

"Got one for Bella?"

I nodded. "Emmett sent me with three."

"Good man." Charlie got a thoughtful look on his face. "Do you eat fish?"

"Shark's okay. Dolphin's better. Never tried whale. I wouldn't hunt something endangered. And we stick to the forests, here. We're still not allowed on Quileute land. Well, except for Rosalie and Emmett, under special circumstances. So that pretty much cuts off the ocean."

"But nothing smaller?"

I shrugged. "Usually not worth the effort."

"And, cooked?"

I shrugged again. "I've gotten used to the smell." Mostly. It was still awful, but mostly I didn't breathe when I cooked, which helped.

"So, venison."

I nodded. "Once a week."

"What do you do with the body?"

"Leave it. The scavengers of the forest take care of it."

Charlie's jaw dropped. "Damn, Edward. Ever think about bringing back some for me?"

I grinned. "I can see Emmett's about to learn the fine art of butchering. And you, my friend, are going to need a bigger freezer."

Charlie laughed and clapped a hand on my shoulder. We both got up to go inside. "Why don't you wake up Bella? I think she'll take it better from you than from me."

Indeed, she did, as I woke her up after our customary fashion.

***

**End Note:** ::waves:: Hello! So, we've returned to Edward's POV. Naturally I'm very curious about what you think of it. And naturally I'm not Edward so the only way I'll know is if you _tell me._ So do. You know you want to. Hit the green button and tell me what you thought of the chapter, please. If you curious as to where this is going, check out our twilighted discussion thread. If you're curious about me, follow me on twitter. Both you can do through my profile page...


	29. A Weekend In Clark County

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

***

**Book Two:** One More Year 'Til Forever  
**Chapter 6: ** A Weekend in Clark County  
**Beta:** Colleen P., wonderful, except her snobbery concerning Dutch Ovens. Okay, so in my adult life I've never had one. Okay, so the on-sale Le Creuset is calling to me... I'm not going to get out of this, am I? I suppose we can't all be perfect. Edward is a car snob. Colleen is a dutch oven snob. I am a liturgy snob. We've all got something. What are you the snob of?

**Author's Note: **I seem to be inundated by plot. I apologize in advance. I promise there is a little lemon in here...

*******

I walked heavily on the stairs to make my footsteps heard by Charlie. I opened her door and didn't bother to repress the shiver that shot up my spine. I loved the smell of this room. I opened my mouth slightly and breathed in, letting the scents flood across my tongue. At the same time, I dove into Bella's mind, letting the warmth and quiet comfort silence the strange dreams of her neighbors, the odd wordless background buzz of her father's mind. Even as expected as it was, the contact was so intimate, so private, so _loving_ that I shuddered.

I locked the door behind me.

I took the bandana from the bedside table and draped it gently over Bella's mouth. At this point it was an unconscious reminder for Bella to be quiet and worked 89% of the time. Its efficacy was up 12% in the last month.

I untucked the sheet from the bottom of the bed and turned on the electric blanket to the lowest setting. I toed off my shoes and slid the sheet and blankets up to expose one of Bella's pale and succulent legs, inch by inch. I caressed the skin gently with my fingers, coaxing her leg to part farther from its mate, to open her wider. I paused at her thigh. God, I loved her thighs. They were the meatiest part of her, though they could stand to be a bit bigger. Bella was, alas, a victim of the modern manic understanding that good health meant life as a stick-figure. She didn't eat enough, either, but arguing with her was, I'd found, a battle quickly lost. Regardless, she was lovely and her body delightful.

I sat on the edge of her bed and leaned in, letting my lips touch the inside of her knee. I trailed kisses, lapping at her savory skin, softly kneading her hip, cradling her small, round ass. I moved slowly, lingering, allowing myself plenty of time. I knew exactly how long I needed until she was wet; four minutes and thirty seconds.

I shifted my left hand underneath the covers - Bella was still mostly covered at this point - and tilted her hips up. I made myself comfortable at the end of her bed and leaned into the feast I held in my hands.

I parted her lips with my tongue and as soon as that perfect, pink seal slipped open I was rewarded with the most intoxicating smell outside of her blood itself - the glorious dark musk that indicated how much Bella wanted me.

I lapped and licked and teased. I thrust my tongue sharply and strongly into the moist furnace that was my second home - my first being her mind - the same as I did every morning. I spelled out my love for Bella in seven languages on her clitoris. She was silent, as she usually was, but her mind was active, halfway between a dream and waking. In her mind we were on a tropical beach - that was probably the electric blanket keeping her warm - and she had her legs over my shoulders and the waves lapped against my feet. Her hands were in my hair, in her imagination, and she was screaming my name, babbling beautifully, cursing interspersed with the compliments.

She was thirty seconds away from coming apart when I decided to do something different. I didn't usually, but it was going to be a very long car ride during which she'd probably sleep most of the way. I knew she didn't mind - invited my actions even, we'd discussed it. And really, I wanted mine. I had been hard since I walked in the room.

Between the space of one of her strong heartbeats and the next I had my shirt off. Before the next heartbeat I had my trousers undone and half shoved down my legs. I whipped her blankets off her and had sheathed myself in one smooth motion, a motion that ended with flicking the bandana off her mouth and slipping my tongue between her lips, capturing the gasp as it began.

Her eyes flew open to meet mine as her arms and legs wrapped around me tightly.

_What is he...? Oh, fuck... oh, shit... oh I love it when he's like this. So close, so close. Mmm... just like... oh fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck...._

And that would be her g-spot. I loved catching her off guard. I pistoned in and out of her at just the right angle. She was ten seconds away from a fairly strong orgasm, if I wasn't mistaken. I would wait until she was completely finished to provoke my own with a drop or two of her blood from her shoulder. There was nothing I loved more than--

Oh fuck. Blood. Oh, _yes._

I saw Bella's intention without enough time to rip my mouth from hers, even if I had wanted to. She had very lightly run her tongue along my teeth.

Still attached to Bella firmly at the hip and the lip I sprung out of the bed. I needed more leverage than I could get and still stay silent on her old twin bed. I stood next to her window with my legs shoulder-width apart, my hands holding onto Bella's beautiful ass as I thrust up into her.

The blood continued to slowly ooze into my mouth until I sealed the wound with a swipe of my tongue. What followed was the most erotic kiss I could have never, ever imagined. Bella showed no signs at all of nausea and I decided that this was my new favorite way to orgasm. The blood swirled in her taste of her mouth, the sweet song of her blood served on the wet velvet of her tongue, and I couldn't help the purring. It was just so _good._

I could feel Bella's glorious pussy spasm and tighten around the steel of my cock as I began to come undone myself. Her nails scratched against my shoulders, I shuddered and continued to kiss her. Her mouth still tasted of blood. I groaned while still purring, an odd sound to be sure, but I was so far beyond caring that it barely registered. I thrust deeply, twisting my hips to try to get just a tiny bit farther inside before I held that beautiful depth and shuddered just as I had when I'd first entered Bella's mind seven minutes ago. The sensations were not dissimilar. I released the evidence of my adoration deep inside my sweet love.

Still we kissed.

Bella held me, stroking my shoulder, my hair, as I came down from the delicious and familiar shock of my blood-induced orgasm.

_Good morning, baby,_ Bella thought, the warmth of those thoughts cradling my mind as surely as her body cradled mine - arms around my torso, legs around my hips, pussy around my cock. _Let's go get married._

My purring deepened and it felt like my heart was going to burst with how much I adored the woman in my arms.

Our kiss finally came to an end and Bella nuzzled into my neck. I was still purring softly, and grinning. I threw my head back so she could have full access to do whatever she wanted.

"But first, a quick shower," she mumbled, her voice roughened from sleep.

I thrust sharply into her at that - we were still attached at the hip and I had already recovered. My purring turned into a light growl and I certainly could not be mistaken for a human when, still growling, I said, "No."

_No?_ She was confused.

My head snapped back up and I met her gaze. I calmed myself down and stopped with the inhuman noises. "Please," I started again. "Please wait until tonight. You smell _so good._ Please don't wash that away just yet."

_Edward, I smell like sex._

Completely out of my control, one corner of my lips curled slowly upwards. "Yeah."

_Edward, I can't go out into public like this._

"You won't be in public," I quickly started to explain, burying my face in her neck and licking, enjoying her taste, her reactions and leaving more of my scent behind. "You can toss a goodbye to Charlie from a distance, and then you'll be in the car with me for seventeen hours. We don't have to see the others. We can stop in different places if you want to, or not, not that they don't know already that we fuck like rabbits." She giggled, but I continued. "It will be late when we arrive. The family will check us in and we can go directly to the room, where you can take a shower. Maybe I'll take one with you."

_Think there might be a jacuzzi tub?_

"I know there is one."

Bella giggled again. "Okay, fine. I won't take a shower, but I do want to have lunch and dinner with the guys. I guess it's not such a big deal, though I'm not sure Sam is aware that you can't seem to keep your hands off me."

"He'll learn. He's a quick kid," I pointed out, sucking lightly on her neck.

_Oh, baby, you need to stop that. I do have to have a human moment, here. Where's Charlie?_

"Kitchen, making you coffee."

I pulled out from her, holding her gently against me. I walked with her to the bathroom, scooping up the pile of clothes on her rocking chair that she had laid out the night before. I walked her, both of us naked, except for our rings and chains and the Cullen crest cuff that Bella only took off to shower, to the bathroom. It would have been inviting disaster if I had expected her to walk there without incident so soon after her orgasm.

"I'll bring your bag downstairs. Don't forget your toothbrush," I said, leaning in and kissing her forehead before leaving her to get myself dressed again.

"That was quick," Charlie remarked when I walked into the kitchen. "Usually takes her at least fifteen minutes to get up on her own, if I've called her. You did it in ten."

"Eight," I said, grinning and taking a seat at the kitchen table.

Charlie shook his head and poured Bella's coffee into the slightly battered Forks Diner travel mug and doctored it with half and half and two teaspoons of sugar. Charlie had raised an eyebrow the first time he found half and half in his refrigerator, but I had bought it regularly for Bella and soon enough he was putting it in his coffee as well.

"You really love her, don't you?" The spoon didn't reach to the bottom of the mug, so he had only poured it half full of coffee and was stirring.

"Absolutely," I replied.

"How does that work?" He filled the mug the rest of the way.

"We mate for life. There's a period of intense bonding at first, and that helps us get through the hard times. Perhaps you've noticed I hate being away from your daughter," I said the last with a grin.

"Oh, I've noticed."

My gaze narrowed on the police chief as I wondered precisely how much his veiled mind had noticed. Shit. _Shit. _Now wasn't the time, though. I played it cool and gave no more indication of my curiosity and nervousness, clearing my features and adopting a pleasant countenance.

"What made you choose my daughter?" He snapped the lid on the mug and tested to make sure it was sealed.

"I didn't. It's involuntary. She saw me. I saw her. It happened. We clicked. It was already done before we'd even introduced ourselves."

"Huh."

He put the coffee on the table in front of me, then went back to lean against the counter. He folded his arms across his chest and seemed to be thinking.

"She's... going to become like you, isn't she?" Charlie asked quietly.

I met her father's eyes. "Not until after the twins are born." There was more that I debated on saying, but I left it at that.

Charlie nodded.

"Will she... will it hurt her?"

"It's a painful process, but it's over quickly enough." I paused there, wondering if I should continue. I decided to do so. "Our newborns are _volatile_ as well. The first year, particularly so. After that, however, she would be able to be around you, if you wished it. I would not wish to bar your access to your own grandchildren, either, but it will be as you prefer."

Charlie snorted. "Of course I'll want to see her. And the twins. You're certain about that, aren't you?"

"Absolutely. Alice sees the future. I've seen the moment of their birth." I paused for a moment, the memory of it bringing a smile to my lips. "You were in the room."

Charlie staggered to the chair and sat down in it, heavily.

"I'm going to be a grandfather." He sounded stunned. I could commiserate.

"Not for another year and half," I pointed out.

"I'm going to be a grandfather," he whispered.

I nodded.

Charlie seemed to come back to himself as he whipped his head over to meet my gaze. "Tell me everything," he said.

Everything was rather a lot. I could hear Bella on the stairs.

"In here, love," I called to her. She walked in slowly, eying the scene with suspicion, and well she should. I held out a hand to her and offered my knee as a seat. The breakfast sandwich was by her bag in the hall, but I pushed the coffee toward her as I wrapped my free arm around her waist.

_What is going on here?_

"Bella, your father and I have just been discussing a few things before we go off camping this weekend."

She raised an eyebrow. _A few things, huh? Obviously not our wedding tomorrow._

I smiled at her guilelessly. "You know, how we fell in love, what our children will be like, my penchant for _really_ fresh venison, raw."

Bella's eyes went wide and her jaw slack. _**Holy mother fucking shit, EDWARD!**_

"It's okay," I said to her softly. "He knows." Then in a louder voice, glancing over at her father I added, "And he'd like to know absolutely everything about his future grandchildren. Which is kind of a lot, and we're short on time, so here's what I propose. Charlie, give us five minutes to get situated in the car, then we'll call you. On speakerphone, we'll _both_ tell you everything we know about Elisabeth and Sebastian --"

Here Bella cut me off.

"Renesmee and Carlie," she muttered mutinously.

"You're not winning this battle, love," I said to her bluntly before returning my attention to Charlie who looked rather amused. "Anyway, we should have at least two hours before we're out of cell phone range. That should be plenty of time to discuss this. What do you say, Charlie?"

He nodded mutely.

"Alright. Let's get going then, shall we?" I asked Bella as I looked into her deep brown eyes, so full of everything I'd ever need. I brought my left hand up and brushed my thumb across her cheekbone. She met my wide smile with a small one of her own.

Bella said her goodbyes and we headed to the car. I opened her door for her and made sure that she was comfortably situated with her coffee and breakfast before closing the door, tossing her bag in the trunk and climbing into the car myself.

We were two blocks away when I pulled over to the curb.

_What--_

I didn't let Bella finish the thought before I drug her into a kiss.

_Hmm... Edward._

Smiling against her lips, I pulled the platinum chain out from underneath her shirt and off her body completely. I leaned back and unfastened it, retrieved the ring then balled up the chain and shoved it in my pocket. Bella wouldn't need that until Monday morning.

"Miss Swan," I said, holding her engagement ring gently by the sides, holding my other hand out for her. She placed her left hand in mine and I slid the ring onto the appropriate finger just before I brought it to my lips to kiss it gently.

_Mr. Cullen. Let's get this show on the road._

I leaned over to kiss her one more time before I pulled away into the pre-dawn darkness. I headed south.

Bella unwrapped her sandwich and folded the aluminum foil such that she could eat it, hold it, and not lose any of it. She took a swig of her coffee before putting it in the cup holder. I motioned to a canvas bag at her feet - it had a liter of water, some of the trail mix that she most enjoyed (with the M&Ms) some baby carrots and a few granola bars. She peeked into it and smiled before leaning over and giving me a kiss on the cheek as I drove.

"Ready to call Charlie?"

_How much are we going to tell him? How much have you already told him?_

"Well, no one's actually mentioned the term 'vampire' and he's been most concerned with the murders last spring when the nomads were in town, and how this will affect you, so I've tailored the information. I think there's a certain amount he doesn't want to know about - your father is rather singular in that way. I think he respects the concept of the 'need to know' information-situation. And right now the need-to-know situation is his grandchildren."

_Well, okay. I guess we'll just wing it._

Bella pulled out her cell phone and dialed her father's house.

"Hey, Dad. Yeah, we're on the road. No, I had to explore the bag of munchies that Edward packed for me. Here, wait. Let me put you on speakerphone." Bella squinted at phone and I turned on the interior lights for her.

_Thank you, angel._

"Okay, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," Charlie said.

"Hello again, Charlie," I said.

"Edward," Charlie said in recognition. I was about to start the conversation when Charlie continued talking. "That car's not your father's, is it?"

I grinned. "Nope."

"Edward's a car snob," Bella remarked in a bored voice.

I wanted to argue, but it was a point I had conceded to her long ago. Instead I glared at her, then turned off the interior light, plunging us back into the dim light of the dashboard.

"If I had a Aston Martin, I reckon I'd be a car snob, too."

"See?" I asked. "Your father understands."

_Huh. It's a guy thing._

Oh, Bella love, don't let Rosalie hear you say that.

"So," I said, trying to refocus us. "You wanted to know about the twins."

"Yes. You said you'd seen me there, at the birth. Could you elaborate, please?"

_You told him about Alice's vision? Okay._

"We were at our house - the Cullen residence - just outside of Forks. There were several members of my family present, including Carlisle and myself. There were three people I did not recognize who were also present - two of them were Quileute. The third is a complete unknown to me. You were also present. This was just seconds after the twins had come out via caesarian section from Bella, who was still lying on the bed. We had yet to wrap up the infants. I held one, Carlisle held the other. The twins seemed to be healthy and Bella seemed to be healthy."

"Are they... were they... the twins, were they normal?"

"There is no way to know that. It is unlikely that they will be completely human. They will be Bella's children, but they will also be mine. There was a second vision, however, which gives us hope."

I told Charlie briefly about the second vision and all it seemed to convey from their stature to their humor to their obvious ontology - at least somewhat human and not entirely vampire. I hesitated before I mentioned my conclusions about their motorcycle partners, but eventually I explained my thoughts on that too.

Charlie was silent for a while.

"Um, Dad? You still with us?"

"I'm here, Bells," he said in a remarkably even and measured tone. "It's just... a lot... to take in."

Bella snorted softly. "Yeah, we get that. We've had some time to adjust to the idea." She had finished she sandwich and most of her coffee and now had one hand free. She rested it on my thigh and gave it a little squeeze. I picked up her hand and held it in my own. I brought it to my lips for a soft, silent kiss. "Mostly they were happy adjustments, and his family has been really great about this, Dad. They've been so supportive."

I really would have to tell her about Condom Testing Night. She never did hear about that one, and I think she could appreciate it, now.

"But at first, before the visions, when we didn't have that reassurance," she said, trailing off. "Well, there were moments when the drama was high."

I kissed her hand again.

"Speaking of reassurance, Alice is certain that there is precedence for the twins. Obviously we want to know as much before hand as possible so there will be as few surprises as possible. She and Jasper have spent the summer, and will continue to spend the next year combing South America. They've worked their way down the west side of the continent and have come back up the southern cone. They'll be concentrating on Brazil this fall, and we have high hopes that they will find what they're looking for."

"And what is that, exactly?" I was surprised he asked. Charlie usually caught on faster than this and so far hadn't asked for this sort of verification. Still, I would tell him.

Then Bella beat me to it.

"A child, probably an adult child, who had a human mother and a vampire father."

And, she said the 'v' word. I wish I knew what Charlie was thinking right now.

"Right," he said, and then was quiet for a moment. "Is there anything I can do to help? With the search, or... anything?"

I breathed a sigh of relief and Bella and I smiled at each other. "There's not much any of us can do from here. Depending on their success, we were thinking about traveling down to meet her at Christmas."

"I'd love to go with them, Dad."

"Weren't you going to spend Christmas with Renee?"

"Yes. And we've been thinking about that. We were thinking that Edward and I could go down a few days before Christmas and stay with Renee, and then the day after, go join his family in Brazil."

Charlie was quiet for a moment. "You going to tell her?"

"Would you recommend it?" I asked him.

"I don't know. I... how can you not?"

I sighed heavily. "The thing is, this must all remain an absolute secret. It's an open secret among the Quileute elders and wolves, and so you can talk with them about it, of course, but there are rules. We cannot tell people who we are."

"You've already broken those rules, Edward," Charlie pointed out. "What will happen?"

"Hopefully? Nothing."

"Who enforces the rules, Edward. You already said that wasn't your job."

"There is a group in Italy. We are cordial with them, but they don't understand our way of life. They are _not_ vegetarian, but they are very old and very powerful. They enforce the rules at their discretion and they are not the sort of people you want the attention of."

I could hear Charlie's sigh. "I feel like Bella is marrying into the Mafia."

Bella snorted. "If so, this is the clean branch of the family, the one full of priests and doctors."

"Priests? Can they even go inside of a church? How are you going to get married?"

"No, well, you know," Bella started, but when she paused, I continued.

"That's all just fairytale stuff, Charlie. I quite like churches and Bella and I are hoping to get one of the Episcopal priests from the diocese to marry us out of our home."

"Oh."

The conversation wound down after that. And soon Bella and I were alone in the car once more.

_Do you think we should tell Renee? I mean, I think we're long past having to fake my death at some point in the near future. __But the twins... I mean, that complicates__ things. And... I mean, she's, don't take this the wrong way. You are everything to me, but outside of you Renee is still my best friend. I mean, I know it's pathetic - she's my mother._

I was quick to sooth her. "Bella, love, it's not a bad thing that you're so close to your mother. It's a good thing," I said. I found it deeply amusing how much Renee knew of our sex life, for instance. Obviously she knew nothing about the blood, which did figure in pretty large when it came to my libido, but baring that there wasn't much she didn't know. I'd actually been present for some of those conversations. They never failed to deeply amuse me.

"I know how much she means to you. And I know it's different, but Carlisle is my best friend, even though he is also my mentor and my maker. It's..." I struggled to put it into words. "I think that as we all mature in life - something that we're constantly doing or not doing, Emmett is a case study in that, by the way - I think we're able to recognize that people are people beyond the roles they play when their lives intersect our own. And sometimes we choose to be deeply defined by those roles, but that's not strictly necessary. It's not required. Who we are runs deep, far beyond labels of mother or mentor or lover. And sometimes, when we are at our best, I think, we are able to know someone deeply, to be able to look into them and see a glimpse of who they really are, beyond the labels, beyond their behaviors and their thoughts and their actions, all of which can change like the sea, or can stay in the same rut for all eighty years. That you have looked beyond the label of 'mother' to know and appreciate Renee, that you can have a relationship with her beyond that of mother-daughter, that's not bad, love."

_But I like that you're my lover. Lover, lover, lover. I like that label. I don't want to get rid of it._

I smiled over at her and squeezed her hand. "I like it too. I like that you think of me as your lover. I love thinking of you as mine. We don't have to get rid of it. And yet, for all the breathtaking sex, I know that you know there's more to me, and I know there are moments when you see so deeply into me. I know because there are moments when I watch you look and I expect you to be repulsed by what you see. You never are, love. You look deeply into me with compassion and love and it only takes thinking about it to make my heart nearly burst."

_So you're not just using me for sex, then?_ she asked, her inner tone mirthful.

My laughter rung out in the confined space of the car. "My sweet, wonderful love. No," I said, laughter still present in my voice. "I'm not just using you for sex. Nor am I using you for the solace of your mind... even though your pussy and your mind _are _my two favorite places to be. I'm not planning on giving up either one of them, ever. Just so you know. I may not be in it for the sex, but I'm not about to go without, either." I looked over at her and grinned lasciviously.

She laughed and dug her phone out again.

_Speaking of Renee, I should call her now so the rest of the car ride can be you and me. And possibly nap-time._

I smiled. Coffee or no coffee, Bella could still take a nap. It was a talent that I think had something to do with the metabolism of her eighteen year old body.

She didn't need to put it on speakerphone for me to hear Renee's side of the conversation.

The two caught up. It seemed Jacksonville was going well, and Renee and Phil were getting ready to rent a house. She seemed thrilled at the prospect of me coming to visit for Christmas, even though Bella's trip would be cut short by a few days. The conversation got somewhat raunchy when Renee discussed sleeping arrangements over Christmas, however.

"_It would be a pointless gesture to expect Edward to sleep on the couch, wouldn't it sweetie? I mean, if Phil was as good with his mouth as your young man I'd make sure to sneak him into my room as often as possible, no matter where we were."_

Oh, Renee knew so much already. I grinned and Bella blushed. She knew that I 'sometimes' sneaked in and slept with Bella at night. She knew how I tended to wake her up on those days, before Charlie woke up. She knew that 'sometimes' we didn't really go camping with my family, we just stayed the weekend in my bed. She knew how loud we could be, as well as how quiet. She knew that the Spanish teacher had caught us after prom against the lockers, and Renee knew that I had talked our way out of trouble.

"True. Too true. But we'll be quiet, I promise."

Renee snorted. _"Feel free to accidentally make noise. Maybe it will inspire Phil. He still thinks that adventurous sex is just a matter of a change in location. Not that I don't like it in the kitchen, of course, but I mean..."_

"Mom, you should just talk to him. I mean, not in a critical way, but ask what his fantasies are, maybe, and then... you know... share yours with him. Try stuff. And if you don't like it, or he doesn't like it, well, at least you'll know."

Renee sighed again. _"You're right. I know, you're right. And Phil is so great about so many things, I just hate that we don't seem to automatically click on this, you know? So how is it with Edward? Do you click, or do you have to have these difficult conversations?"_

Bella looked over at me and grinned. She squeezed my hand and I leaned over and kissed her cheek. _Hm, how is it with me and Edward? How is it with me and Edward? It's like... gosh, it's like he can read my mind, _she thought with mock-innocence, her grin turning impish.

_Oooo! I'll tell her! I'll tell her, angel! This is PERFECT!_

I raised an eyebrow.

_No, no, really, it's the perfect context._

"Well, funny you should ask, Mom. Edward has this talent..."

Renee snorted with laughter. _"I'm well aware of just how talented Edward is, sweetheart."_

Bella grinned. "Well, yes, that is certainly true. But I actually meant something else. Edward... he's got... well, he's got sort of a supernatural talent, Mom. Edward can read minds. It's... um, well it was a little weird when I first found out, but it's not something he can control. He can't _not_ read people's minds. It's horribly distracting for him, poor boy. It's a good thing he's wickedly intelligent or school would be a nightmare. But he has this way of kind of burrowing deep into _my_ mind, and it blocks out everyone else. He can't do it with anyone but me, but yeah. It, um, it makes for some mindblowing sex, among other things. Stuff I would be embarrassed to try to tell him, he sees as I think it. Fantasies in full color, sort of thing. So, you know, even though I can't read his mind, I like to think that I can coax whatever information I need out of him, so yeah. Communication isn't an issue between us, weather about sex or other stuff."

"_You're not kidding, are you, Bella?" _Renee asked, her voice serious.

"Really not kidding, Mom."

"_Wow. Wow."_

"Tell me about it. Edward is pretty special. And, you know, I adore him."

"_Wow. Yeah, don't let that one go, Bella-boo."_

"Funny you should mention that, Mom."

"_What... what are you not telling me? Bella... Bella, has he asked you to... no, no. Tell me. Tell me before I go insane!"_

Bella laughed. "I'm putting you on speakphone." _Tell her. Tell her you asked me to marry you. Tell her I said yes._

I grinned. "Good morning, Renee, how are you?"

"Cut the shit, Edward. Do you two have something to tell me? Because, just for the record, I'm all ears over here. And the suspense is killing me. So out with it, pretty boy."

We both laughed. "Why yes, Renee, we do have news." I looked over and caught Bella's eye.

_You know that unnerves me. Watch the road, angel._

Eyes back on the road, I continued to speak with her mother. "I've asked Bella to marry me." Months ago, but I did. "And she's agreed to it." Tomorrow.

Bella and I laughed at the happy shriek over the phone.

"_Oh my god, I knew it! __**I knew it!**_I knew it, I knew it, I _**knew **_it! Wait. Waitwaitwaitwait. Bella. _Bella," _Renee said and with a tone that was nearly a growl. "Bella, are you and Edward going to elope? You are, aren't you!"

As Renee continued on, I glanced quickly at Bella, seeing the same shocked look on her face. Renee was _scarily_ intuitive. I'd always known it, but I'd never guessed just how true it was.

"Oh my GOD!" Renee was still ranting. "You are. You are, you're going now, aren't you? Are you going to Vegas? Oh my god, Phil! PHIL! Bella and Edward are eloping this weekend! My baby is getting married in Vegas WITHOUT ME! Find out if there are any flights!"

"Mom, stop. Stop! Calm down. We are getting married tomorrow morning, yes, and Charlie _doesn't know, _so please don't tell him. He only thinks that Edward is asking me to marry him this weekend. But next year we'll have a quiet little ceremony and and make it public."

"Wait, wait. You're not going to tell anyone about it afterwards? You're not going to live with Edward? I mean, I'm glad. I think. But, wait, I'm also very confused. You still have a year left of high school, sweetie. You're not thinking of dropping out, are you? I thought you and Edward were planning on college? Dartmouth? What about that?"

"It's still the plan, Renee," I said. "We're driving down with my family, and Jacob Black and one of his friends. It's... well, it's as simple as this, Renee. You know how accident prone Bella is. I am deathly afraid that something will happen to Bella and I'll have absolutely no rights."

Renee was silent for a moment. "That is the by far the strangest and most responsible reason I've ever heard for two eighteen year olds to elope. Only you, Bella. You're eighteen going on forty-three.

"I want pictures, do you hear me? I don't care if it's a drive-thru wedding chapel, _I want pictures!_ If I don't get pictures in this next week - you'd better express them to me, please don't try to email them, you know how I am with technology, if I don't have them _in my hands by next Friday, __**I'm calling Charlie.**_"

"Message received, Renee," I said. We would have them developed in Port Angeles and overnighted to her on Tuesday. I'm glad I pushed Bella to bring her new camera, now...

"Good. Take me off speaker phone. I want to talk to Edward."

Bella gave me a compassionate look and handed me the phone.

"It's just us now, Renee."

"Be good to her, Edward."

"To the end of my days, Renee," I responded.

"Call me Mom."

I grinned. "Thanks, Mom."

"And don't be a stranger. You can call me, too, you know."

I grinned. It might just be that I liked Renee as much as I liked Charlie. It really wasn't so remarkable that these two interesting people came together to create the most perfect creature in the world. Knowing Bella and getting to know _them_... the similarities were becoming clearer and clearer.

Renee requested my address and both my cell phone number and our home phone before we hung up. I had a feeling that a wedding present would be arriving shortly.

"Well," I said, after Bella had turned her phone off and put it away. "This is interesting, isn't it? Charlie knows you're doing family planning with a vampire and Renee knows that you're getting married to your telepathic boyfriend tomorrow. We'll have to make sure to keep our stories straight," I said, grinning.

_Well, until Monday morning, I don't have to keep any stories straight. It's you and me, baby, and a bunch of people who know it all._

The rest of the trip was significantly less remarkable than the first two hours. Bella slept, Bella chatted with me in her stream of consciousness. We stopped twice for food and she joked with the cubs, but was mindful of not touching them. I was grateful. The joy of her scent would be significantly diminished if it the smell of our sex was mixed with the smell of werewolf. Even thinking about it left a bad taste in my mouth.

After dinner Bella decided that she was in the mood for dessert, which ended up being me. I'd never experienced the joy of fellatio while driving, though Emmett always raved about it, but for the last two hours of the drive, largely in the desert, Bella sucked, slurped, licked, nipped, stroked and teased me while I sat in ecstasy beneath her mouth. Her stream of consciousness during this two hour period was as bizarre as it typically was, and deliciously X-rated. Finally as we approached the city limits, my car in the lead of our caravan, she offered me her finger.

The family was already well aware of what was occurring in our car - the windows of the Vanquish weren't tinted at all, and they'd seen Bella slink down across my lap and never surface. That being the case, I didn't censor myself when I came hard in her mouth, the car never deviating an inch from the path of the road. I even managed to downshift, by some miracle.

Except for that moment of downshifting, I had one hand at the back of Bella's head, my fingers tangled up in her silky, fragrant chestnut hair. The blood on my tongue was as devastatingly delicious as it ever was. The moment her finger slipped from my mouth my growling ceased and I told her just how much I appreciated her efforts on my behalf.

"Fuck. _Fuck,_ baby it's so good. God, just like that, baby." I groaned. My orgasm was deliciously long this time. I shuddered as she sucked the tip of my cock. She liked to catch me on her tongue, the better to savor me, she said.

_That's it Edward, come. Come, baby, come. So good, you taste so good. You must be tired of me telling you that, I always tell you that, but it's so true--_

I cut her off. We'll be having none of that. I forced the words out. It was difficult to be coherent in this way, but I couldn't let her think that her thoughts of adoration during sex were ever monotonous to me. "No, baby. No. You know... you, oh fuck, oh God, _yes, yes, yes, _you know... oh God, I love... oh fuck... love your thoughts, always, always, oh fuck, fuck _fuck, __**yes...**_"

I was purring as Bella licked me clean to the sound of applause from the cars behind. Emmett and Jasper were gleeful and Jacob and Sam were surprised I was as coherent as I'd been. Rosalie snarkily pointed out that I'd had a lot of practice, lately. She had a point. I was all put back together as we pulled into the valet parking in front of the hotel. I got out of the car, handed him the keys and told him of the luggage in the trunk. I took Bella's canvas bag from the floor at her feet as I helped her from the car and she blushed when the rest of my family - Carlisle and Esme included - were quietly hooting and teasing us as we walked into the hotel. I pulled Bella off to the side and into the lounging area. I sat down in a massive armchair and pulled her onto my lap, kissing her as thoroughly as I'd wished to for the last seventeen and three-quarters hours.

_I'm up for some shower sex, how about you?_

"Actually," I said softly, "we have an errand to run after your shower. Clark County Courthouse is open until midnight. We need to go and get the marriage license before they close tonight. It shouldn't take long. Then I'm up for whatever you want, love."

Bella smiled at me. _We're getting married. We're really getting married._

I smiled back, and nodded. "We really are," I murmured.

***

There wasn't a day that passed in which I didn't find Bella to be beautiful and this, the first of our wedding days was no different at all. I held her throughout the night - I'd brought the electric blanket from home to warm us - and woke her at half past seven the same way I woke her most mornings. We took a rather leisurely shower and per instruction I massaged hot oil into her hair. The directions required that we let it set for ten minutes without disturbing it or accidentally washing it away, so obviously that ten minutes couldn't be used for purposes of cleanliness. We managed, somehow, to fill that time nevertheless.

Bella and Alice had come to a compromise. In the second wedding, Alice could be in charge of hair and make up. In the first, she could only offer suggestions from afar, hence the hot oil treatment. Bella left her hair wrapped up in a towel for an hour before letting it air dry for another hour, during which time we lounged on the bed, she ate her breakfast from room service, and I recited the first three acts of The Tempest from memory, a skill which did not cease to amaze my love. She particularly enjoyed that I gave each character a different voice. I was very good at mimicking other people's voices...

It took Bella five minutes to put on eyeliner and mascara, mentally swearing the entire time. She put some lip gloss on as well, but I kissed her afterwards, wary of the strawberry flavor.

As suspected, it was revolting.

We both washed our lips off and I promised that the moment her lips lost their gorgeous pink blush of blood I would be happy to kiss them again until they were rosy and lush once more.

It took five more minutes for Bella to gloss her hair with some substance that tamed it slightly, and clip it back from her face. Her natural, soft curls tumbled down her back beautifully.

I put my suit on while Bella slowly dressed. I dressed quickly and before Bella had even shed her plush robe I was sitting sprawled out in one of the overstuffed chairs by the bed. I watched with hooded eyes as she laid her white dress out on the bed. I'd seen it modeled on her before - it was tea-length, modest, and with simple, modern lines. It looked lovely on my Bella. From her suitcase Bella also dug out a pair of silver sandals, and a matching set of lingerie which from here looked like a thong and demi-cup, though I couldn't be sure.

_I want to try getting waxed. Did you know that some women have everything waxed? I mean, like no hair at all from the waist down?_

"Um-hmm," I murmured my assent from across the room. Bella was completely naked at this point and reaching for her underwear. She was so beautiful. I loved just looking at her.

_I'm not sure I'm up for that, but I wouldn't mind entering the rest of eternity never having to shave my legs again, you know?_

I was right. It was a thong. A snowy creation of cotton and lace, and it matched the bra she was just now putting on. Together, in the white lace set Bella looked positively... virginal. And virginal, apparently, was quite appealing to me. Quite.

_But maybe just to try it once. I don't know. Maybe not. What do you think?_

"Sure, try it," I said. She turned around to look at herself in the mirror while she wondered if it would really make a difference, this lack of body hair she was considering, but I was focused on the perfect roundness that was her ass, beautifully framed by the barely-there thong that I knew she wore for me. Left to her own devices, she'd be wearing boy shorts. I was incredibly grateful.

_Hmm. Maybe. I talk to Alice. I'm sure she'll have some insight. At the very least she'll help me make the appointment. How weird will that be, though? Isn't that weird? I mean, you're the only one who has ever seen that part of me as an adult. Not sure I exactly want to share that with anybody else._

She continued on, but I sighed as she covered up the expanse of her creamy soft skin. She was so beautiful. I was so grateful that I could have moments like this when I could just watch her, be with her, an integral part of her life, but also sometimes just quietly, silently watching and loving. My love for her was all wrapped up in the sensation of her mind, the bliss that was her heart, the ecstasy that was her body and the experience that was her blood. It was hard to tease one from another, though I knew that soon enough one of the blessed four would cease to be available to me.

I shied away from the idea.

"Zip me up?" Bella asked, presenting me with her back. I did as she asked, then pulled her down on top of me when I was through.

"Bella," I growled at her. "Do you have any concept how much I love you? Care for you? Adore the ground you walk on?"

"Yes," Bella replied lightly. "I do talk with Jasper, you know."

I snickered at her. "So do I," I confided in a whisper. "And I have it on good authority that you are every bit as obsessed with me as I am with you."

"Maybe," she conceded with a smile. "Maybe I adore you. Maybe I want to marry you. Maybe I want to have your children. Maybe I want to spend the rest of eternity with you. Maybe," she said, teasing me terribly.

"Maybe?" I said with mock indignation.

I caught her look at from the side. "Okay, fine. _Definitely."_ I caught her lips. She tasted divine.

With a sigh we ended the kiss.

"So. What do you want to do this morning?" Bella asked me coyly before getting up off my lap.

"Oh, I don't know," I said, getting up and pulling my suit jacket on. I held a hand out to her after pocketing the room key, car keys, my wallet and the marriage license, and then pulling on a pair of black suede gloves. Bella perched my fedora on my head at a jaunty angle. "Go the casino? Catch a show at a strip club, maybe," I mused.

"Wanna get married?" she asked.

I shrugged. "We could do that, I suppose." Bella wasn't the only one who could be coy.

"What if I said please?" she asked.

"Oh, well that's something different," I remarked. We were almost to the door now, but I pulled her in for a kiss. She slid my hat back as I leaned down to kiss her. "In that case, there's absolutely nothing I'd rather do this morning than marry you, love," I murmured against her lips.

"It's time, Edward," I heard Carlisle say in a quiet voice outside our door. I echoed the sentiment to Bella once we had finished kissing.

We had compressed the ten of us into three cars - the Volvo, the Mercedes and the Aston Martin. The trip to the wedding chapel took no time at all. Bella thought that the men were all a little too matchy-matchy, her phrase, but I was fairly certain that it was because we all wore fedoras. Alice had explained that it was necessary for the Cullens and optional for the Quileutes, and with that Bella could not argue. Jacob had tried to affect a strange Humphrey Bogart accent when he first donned his - I'd heard it from three rooms away. He and Sam had gotten a laugh out of it. The boy had a strange sense of humor.

Still, it did not take us long before we were all in the wedding chapel. I wondered, not for the first time, why we had not chosen to simply have a judge marry us at the courthouse, but admittedly in Las Vegas there was much more flexibility in choosing a wedding chapel than a courthouse. The chapels had better hours, for one thing, and hotels and casinos had wedding packages. It was all very strange. Alice arranged it, and for that I was grateful.

The chapel was kitch and strange, a sort of pseudo-church on steroids; garish, trite, and very plastic, though meant, I am sure, to be elegant. Walking in, I had a pang of doubt. Should I have waited? For certainly, I was the one who was so insistent on marrying so quickly, I and not Bella. Bella would have been content to wait until next summer, if not longer. Was this really what I wanted? It gave the illusion of a church wedding, but the illusion was thin at best. I realized all at once that even though the hours were trickier, a marriage begun in a courthouse might have had more integrity and less illusion, for certainly everything in the wedding chapel was an assault on the senses.

But then again, I wasn't here for the illusion. We weren't here to fake a church wedding. We would have our religious ceremony next year with family and friends around us, officiated by an honest-to-God, I-spent-years-training-to-do-this clergy person. Now what we needed was a legal document tying our lives together, confirming for us and every legal system that existed in our country and abroad that our fate was mutual and we were answerable to no one save one another. That we would achieve that aim in this room covered in white satin and plastic flowers as opposed to an office with mahogany paneling and books on constitutional law was a detail that made no difference, except to my offended sense of aesthetics.

The clerk at the courthouse last night had a moment of extreme judgmentalism when he realized that according to our driver's licenses, Bella and I were only just eighteen years old, but I ignored him. It was the one and only time we would have to identify ourselves in that way during this process and I was only glad that Bella hadn't picked up on it. It was the sort of thing that would have annoyed her. I was deep inside Bella when we met the man who would be officiating our very short ceremony this morning and so avoided even a single stray thought commenting about our ages or relative readiness for marriage. I simply shook his hand, smiled as Alice introduced Bella and I, and handed over the marriage license.

Carlisle produced the set of rings Bella and I had decided upon, and for the first day since I had tied it onto her left wrist, Bella was bereft of the Cullen crest. The leather cuff was back on my wrist. Bella had tied it on me this morning after our shower. She would receive her own from Carlisle after we were finished, here, and I couldn't stop grinning when I thought of it.

The officiant asked us a number of question - we were doing this of our free will? Was there any legal reason why we could not be married to one another? The vows were short and sweet, and we read them off a card that the officiant held for us. The words we exchanged the rings with were of a similar nature.

It wasn't that it was a meaningless ceremony, but it felt like it was a dog dressed up as a cat. It was clearly a civil ceremony dressing up as a religious one, without actually being one, and for that reason it felt... strange. Which itself was strange, as I had attended two of Emmett and Rosalie's Vegas weddings. By now it shouldn't feel strange. But Bella and I weren't doing this for a cover, or because it was time to renew our vows, or just for the hell of it, because in Emmett's words, 'Everyone ought to be married at the Bellagio at least once in their lives.'

By the end of it, seven minutes later, I couldn't have told you if I'd made the right decision in how to get married, but there was no doubt in my mind that married to Bella was how I was supposed to be, so in the end I decided that it didn't actually matter.

In a move almost foreign to me, I let it go.

Bella, my love, my sweet, my mate, my _wife_, Bella was all that mattered.

Back at our hotel we had a table reserved with a champagne brunch already ordered. It made no difference to us that the only ones consuming the champagne would be under age. It was a special occasion and we certainly would cut them off after one glass.

A drunk Bella was not a Bella with whom I wanted to spend the day of our wedding. While it might be amusing for both of us to get her drunk and see what that would be like, today was not the day to experiment thusly.

Carlisle toasted to Bella and I, and I think if I had been able to cry, I might have done so. I felt the burn of tears unshed.

"I would like to propose a toast to Edward and Bella. That you complete one another is obvious for all to see. Your love will never dim. May you live long and happy lives, filled with peace, joy, and love such that it radiates out from you to touch and bless the lives of those around you. _**When**_ you have children," Carlisle said with a radiant smile, "may they be all things good in this world: compassionate, loving, thoughtful, intelligent, creative, mature beings that grace this family and the world with their presence. To Edward and Bella."

"To Edward and Bella," echoed seven strong voices as eyes smiled at us and champagne flutes were raised.

I squeezed Bella's hand and she quietly thanked them for us as we raised our own flutes. I could not find my voice, but I did not need to. It was enough to sit here and be loved.

Carlisle handed Bella a box wrapped in green paper. She pulled on the bow and pulled the top off the box to reveal her own crest, just as she had once imagined it. She pulled out Carlisle's coat of arms framed by platinum in a delicate wrist cuff and quickly slipped it on her left wrist.

It was in that moment that I realized just how handicapped I was, remaining in Bella for such long stretches of time. I also realized, simultaneously to this, a new depth to Bella's sneakiness.

_And that's it for the gifts!_ Bella thought, practically chortling in her glee.

I gave Bella a look that conveyed my suspicion.

_I know you said I had to gracefully accept gifts. And you know, I might have. I did from Carlisle. But I also pointed out to Rosalie and Emmett what a huge gift they'd already given me, fixing up my truck, making it so safe, so very Edward-approved. And nothing Alice and Jasper could possibly ever buy me could ever come close to the work they're putting in trying to find the half-vampire child they're looking for. And Jake and Sam's very presence, which surely won't please the Tribal Council once they inevitably find out, is more than I could have asked for in a gift from them. So really, that's it. We're done now, and everyone's happy!_

I narrowed my gaze on her. She played dirty, I'd give that to her. Just as I was about to ask Jasper to hand over the gift I'd prepared for Bella, Jacob spoke up. I'd never before been so grateful for his oft-confounding presence.

"Right. So I know there was the great gift embargo on this wedding, but I figured it was time for this anyway. And no, I haven't told the Tribal Council about this yet, but I'm within my rights to do this, so I'm sure I'll get around to letting them know about this soon enough, certainly by this time next year. I'll keep you posted."

And with that, Jacob handed me an envelope. I looked up at him in confusion. The way he mentioned the Tribal Council let me to believe that this had something to do with the Treaty, but what I couldn't be sure. Would it be an amendment that would allow for Bella's turning? Could I dare hope that far?

_Open it already, Edward!_ Bella requested sharply.

I slit open the envelope marked with our names and pull out two sheets of paper filled with... _Carlisle's flowing handwriting._

I looked up quickly to give him a searching look, but had no wish to exit out of Bella's mindscape even for a moment today. Before Bella got a chance to read even the first word my eyes had returned to the page. We read it in silence together.

"_Because the Quileute Tribe recognizes that the family of Dr. Carlisle Cullen, marked by their compassion for humanity, and bearing the crest depicted below, has a deep and long-standing commitment to the sanctity and preservation of human life and finds sustenance only in lesser animal forms,_

"_Because the Quileute Tribe recognizes bonds of mutual trust and benefit with the family of Dr. Carlisle Cullen,_

"_Because the Quileute Tribe recognizes that the family of Dr. Carlisle Cullen has performed many acts of mercy and kindness not only to various and numerous members of the human population of Forks, Washington, but also knowingly to members of the Quileute Tribe and Pack,_

"_Because the Quileute Tribe trusts the family of Dr. Carlisle Cullen to aid in the mutual maintenance, while the Olympic Peninsula is their residence, in an area free of the threat of cannibalistic cold ones,_

"_Because of the reasons listed above, and in the interest of growing a deeper bond of friendship and understanding, the Quileute Tribe _

_"invites the family of Dr. Carlisle Cullen onto their ancestral and reserved land, _

_"agrees to mutual secrecy from those unaware and without the need to know, _

_"requests the presence of Ms. Rosalie Lillian Hale McCarty-Cullen and her husband Mr. Emmett McCarty-Cullen during First Shift ceremonies,_

_"requests to be notified before the family of Dr. Carlisle Cullen grows, which the Quileute Tribe acknowledges would only occur after a thoughtful period of most serious discernment, and_

_"names friend the following established members of the family of Dr. Carlisle Cullen, as listed with their imprint-mate: Carlisle and Esmerelda Platt Cullen, Edward Anthony and Bella Marie Swan Masen-Cullen, Emmett and Rosalie Lilian Hale McCarty-Cullen, Jasper and Mary Alice Brandon Whitlock-Cullen._

"_Signed on this day, September 20th, 2005 by_

"_Chief Jacob Black, Alpha of the Quileute Pack, Chief of the Tribal Council_

"_Dr. Carlisle Cullen, Patriarch of the Cullen Family_

"_Witnessed on this day, September 20th, 2005 by_

"_Mr. Samuel Uley, Second of the Quileute Pack_

"_Ms. Rosalie Lilian Hale McCarty-Cullen, Midwife to the Quileute Pack, Daughter in the Cullen Family_

_I'm there,_ Bella though, sniffling back tears. _In black and white, right next to you, listed in the Treaty. I'm part of the family. I really am._

I turned toward my love an wiped away her tears with my thumbs, placing a single, swift, chaste kiss on her lips before turning to Jacob. I reached out my hand to him and shook his.

"Thank you, Jacob. It's more than I ever imagined."

The alpha just grinned and shrugged one shoulder. His second didn't look so certain, but just now I wasn't worried about it.

Bella passed the two sheafs of paper to Jasper, next to her, and the revised Treaty quickly made its way around our table, stunned silence in its wake. No one had anticipated this happening quite as it did, but the surprising nature of Jacob Black's wedding gift in no way diminished our gratitude for the changing nature of our relationship.

***

**Author's Note: **To the twitteristas, I say 'hey!' And if you twitter and would like more randomness in your life, come and follow me: 'SareLiz'. To all y'all, I ask again: What are you the snob of?


	30. Motorcycle Jacket

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

***

**Book Two:** One More Year 'Til Forever  
**Chapter 7: ** Motorcycle Jacket  
**Beta:** Colleen P., wonderful.  
**Author's Note:**

The Edward Muse Rants:

"Why are they all so bloody surprised that Charlie took the news well? Haven't I been good? Haven't I been all things respectable? Have I given Charles Swan one single solitary reason or moment to doubt my character? Haven't I been the _**model**_ boyfriend? I was the one who saved Bella from _**certain death**_ when the van nearly killed her! I was the one who learned to cook for her! I am the one who gets her home on time from every god-damn date we go on! I am the one who gets her to smile in preparation for a baseball game and a school dance. I am the one who coaxes her with strawberries and Shakespeare. I am the one who comes over and hangs out with Charlie, cooks his meals, helps his daughter with her chores, with her homework. I am the one who fucking well explains the same god-damn math problem to her seven different ways until she gets it. I am the epitome of calm, safe, stable, adoring and providing. When the chips are down, I _**always**_ put Bella first, her safety, her happiness, her love.

"I am _**not **_the Edward who is so deeply in denial that he flips out and all but kidnaps her when she is in danger instead of bloody well eliminating the danger on the spot. I am _**not**_ the Edward who would abandon her because he's so incapable of being in a relationship that he sees it as the only alternative. I am the _**fucking stable one! No shit Charlie likes me, trusts me, and didn't flip out! I never gave him reason to do so!"**_

::growls::

"Edward," I say, "Baby, calm down, hun."

"_**No! I'm angry!"**_

"I know, baby. They weren't thinking when they reviewed like that. And not all of them did. Many people completely understood for all those reasons and more."

"_I'm __**not**__ the bad guy!"_

"I know, baby."

::sulks::

"It's okay, baby. Bella will be back in a minute. You want a lemon?"

::nods petulantly::

"Okay," I say. "I'll see what I can do."

*** _And now, back to your regularly scheduled chapter ***_

I watched as something miraculous happened two weeks before Halloween.

The angry she-wolf that Rosalie had told us about showed up at the house before school one day. Bella had only just arrived - she was driving me to school today in her truck, and she liked to allow herself plenty of time to drink a cup of coffee and chat with Esme and Emmett before we had to leave, and so there was plenty of time. We all went to the door, Rosalie and Emmett, Esme, Bella, and myself and we spread out on the porch as Rosalie stepped out onto the lawn before us. I slipped out of Bella's head, moving my hand to the back of her skull and scratching gently at the base, our silent body language signal to let her know of my intentions. As we stood by the rail, she squeeze me around the waist a little tighter, and I knew she understood.

The wolf wore Cullen-regulation dark wash jeans, flip flops, and a simple white v-neck tee shirt. It was clear that she'd run here, as she walked out of the forest towards us, but in which form wasn't clear. It had only been a week since she'd shifted for the first time and both Rosalie and Jake reported that she was having serious issues.

The poor girl. I've heard the pack-mind; nothing is sacred. It's a phenomena like nothing else. Everything is shared; every thought, every connection, and more than I usually got - context and meaning is also instantly available, as well, so with just one brief flash of memory or fantasy suddenly a sensory overload washes over you. It was shocking the first time I listened to it.

And the poor girl; she now hated Sam as much as she once loved him, but she couldn't cut it off - all of her emotions, all of her thoughts, all of her energy, it was all still wrapped up in him.

She was on the edge, now. The family was all very, very curious.

_Can't fucking take this anymore. God, I can't wait till I won't have to shift anymore. Just... fuck, I just have to get out of this place. God, please let this work. She gets it. She likes him, but she likes everyone. She'll help me. Fuck, what if she doesn't? What if she tells him? What if she tells Jake? I haven't shifted. They don't know. They don't know. They don't know. They don't know. They __**can't **__know. And they won't tell them. She won't tell them. But what about the others? No, no, they don't know, either._

_Fuck, the mindreader knows. Stay out of my fucking head, asshole!_ she screamed at me, glaring as she came closer. I kept my face blank.

_God damn mother fucking vampires. None of this would have happened if it weren't for them! It's all their fault my life is a fucking waking nightmare. It's all their fucking fault. I've lost everything; the man I love, my best friend in the world, my family, my hopes, my dreams... even my own skin._

And then I think she cracked. Jasper wasn't here, so I couldn't know for sure, but suddenly her thoughts changed, violently. I couldn't read emotions like my brother could, but thoughts were so closely linked to emotions, I had noticed that sometimes it just took one single thought - one trigger thought - to instigate a significant mood swing, high or low. Like flipping a switch, she went from what I would guess would be homicidally angry to suicidally sad. I flashed my eyes over to Rosalie taking a sudden and tiny intake of breath to get her attention. Even when we spoke outside of the range of human hearing and perception, the wolves could still follow us, so verbal communication was out, but we'd had decades to perfect our own little language of the body. My look said, _Do something ingenious._

Rosalie quirked her brows down and I could tell that she was open to suggestion, so long as it was helpful.

'Love her,' I mouthed to her, subtly.

Rosalie sighed, which I took as an affirmation.

I watched as Rosalie took four steps toward the wolf as she closed in on our grouping.

Tears were about to fall from the wolf's eyes. She was incoherent in her sorrow. _Can't... fuck... no... I just... fuck... can't do this... help me... fuck..._

Rosalie met her and pulled her into a tight embrace. The wolf didn't seem surprised or discomfited, which I believed could only be a further testament to just how far to the edge she really was. Or possibly, it was a commentary on just how much Rosalie meant to the pack, even an ostracized member like this young she-wolf cub.

Rosalie just held her, smoothing her hand over her buzz cut hair and down her back. At one point the she-wolf shifted and turned her head sideways from where it rested, dropped on Rosalie's shoulder. She looked directly at Bella, and I was surprised at her sudden coherency and elevation in mood.

_Who's that? Human wrapped around a vampire. It must be Bella. She's pretty. She's so lucky she found her mate. I'm such a freakshow. I'll probably never imprint. It's all about genetics and continuing the species, and who knows if I'll ever be able to get pregnant. Who wants a pregnant werewolf?_

_God this sucks. My life sucks. Fuck, if I never shift again it will be too soon. But it's so... itchy when I don't, especially when I hang around my girl R. Then I think about the Dipshit Asshole and I get so __**angry**__..._

_No, no. Calm down. If you shift, they'll know. They'll know you want to leave and Jake will try to stop you._

_Maybe I don't have to leave, though. God, but I can't go home. I can't fucking go home. Please, sweet Jesus, don't make me go home. I would miss Seth, though... I wonder if I... No, no. They wouldn't let me. I don't even know how to ask--_

"Why don't you take some time away from the pack and the family and stay here with us?" I asked quietly, interrupting the wolf's stream of consciousness.

_Reading my mind, he was reading my mind. Should be mad about that, but I'm so fucking relieved. I'm so tired. I think it's the not shifting. I never thought it would be this hard. I'm so tired._

In the end, she stayed. Bella and I went to school and when we returned, Rosalie and the wolf had also returned from wherever they had gone off to - an unorthodox shopping trip, if I gathered correctly from their thoughts. Still, I didn't put all the pieces together until I pulled the Volvo into the garage and saw the she-wolf's brand new motorcycle. More particularly, I saw her brand new motorcycle _jacket._

I had seen it before.

I slipped back into Bella's mind and my fingers automatically searched out the base of her skull.

Her mental sigh mirrored my own sense of relief and homecoming. I had come out of her mind briefly as we neared the house, as we were both curious about the situation with Rosalie and her latest addition, but I was now in no state to relate anything to my love.

_Angel? Edward? Uh-oh, what did you hear, baby?_

I didn't move a muscle. I didn't breathe. Bella wanted very much to crawl into my lap, but we were still in the car and there was little room when I wasn't cooperating. I heard her as she got out of the car, came around and opened my door. She tugged on my jacket.

_Get out of the car, Edward. _"Get out of the car, Edward," and her voices echoed one another, aural and mental one just behind the other.

I got out mechanically and stood before the open door. I was aware that she was moving about, but my brain function was all but frozen. The jacket. I had seen it before.

_I have your journal and a pen. We're not doing this in the garage, and we're not doing this outside. Let's go to your room - our room. Come on, baby._ In her mind we were already there. In her mind, Bella was propped up by pillows against the arm of the leather post-modern daybed as I reclined against her. She cradled me with her arms and legs. I had my journal clenched in one hand.

Bella tugged on my hand we walked slowly across the yard, into the house.

"We're home!" she called out softly as we passed the front door. "But we need a minute. Or ten."

We met no one in our trek to the third floor, though I was vaguely aware that Rose and the ..._wolf..._ were in the second guest room on the third floor.

God, I have to stop calling her that, don't I?

Bella pulled me into her embrace on the couch, just as she had imagined us while still in the garage. Held by her thusly, it felt like I could breathe again.

_Oh, baby, whatever it is. Whatever it is..._ She rocked me slowly to the song stuck in her head.

_Come on. Tell me. You need to tell me, sweetheart. I can't take this not knowing._

I took the journal and pen from her in silence and shifted. I rolled in her embrace. She still held me, but now I faced her, shifted down slightly. Our torsos were mismatched, but when I laid my face against her breasts, it felt right anyway. Absentmindedly I pursed my lips and just held them there against the inner slope of her breast as I opened the journal and tucked one corner underneath one of her pillows to hold it open. I raised the pen and she lent a hand uncapping it. I wasn't willing to move far enough to relinquish my other hand from where it cupped her shoulder from behind.

Her fingernails scratched through my hair and her nebulous thoughts cradled me as I drew.

It was a close up of Alice's dream from so many months ago, the woman with the long black hair on the motorcycle behind my son, Sebastian. I drew it almost exactly the same way I'd seen it, changing none of the details except these two: I took the woman's helmet off and had her look back over her shoulder.

I unconsciously drew her face as animated and happy in a way I'd never seen myself, only in Sam's guilt-ridden thoughts. Her hair was long, again, and her jacket looked more worn in.

I should have been prepared for this. I knew that my children would grow up and live to find mates and lives of their own, but God, it _hurt so much._ They weren't born yet, weren't even conceived of yet, only foretold, and already I had lost them. Both. Just because I didn't know the face of the massive man in front of my daughter didn't mean that she was any less his.

Then a thought occurred to me. _Sweet Jesus!_ Could it be another wolf? The stature was right, though it was hard to be exact, given that he was sitting down and partially obscured by my daughter's form.

Still, I pushed that thought very quickly from my mind, as if by doing so I could pretend it had never occurred to me.

When I finished drawing, I started writing all of this out. I wanted Bella to hear my angst, in case she, too, would be feeling it. At least I wasn't trying to do this on my own - that would be utterly unbearable.

"_...And should we tell her? Would it bring her solace to know that she would imprint? It is something she is concerned about. Would it bring her solace to know that she would be happy again, in love again, loved again? Or would it do more harm that good? We need to tell the family._

"_Oh, God, Bella. I'm not ready to be a father. I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, and Jasper and Alice still have no leads - we don't know what the twins will need, or what they will be like, or __anything.__ I feel like I have my hands tied behind my back. I feel so utterly useless, like there's nothing I could do even if I knew how to do everything, and yet I feel like I have to do __something._

"_I'm not ready to be a father, and yet I want it so badly, and I'm so fucking pissed off that before we even get a chance to be parents..._

"_And I have no fucking right, do I? Who am I to dictate who my children fall in love with? How dare I? How dare I attempt to dictate their happiness? Shouldn't I of all people appreciate that that tomfoolery never works? Carlisle tried to choose for me, only trying to help. Did you know that, love? That was the underlying reason he turned Rosalie. You see how well that worked out. How on earth could I ever fall for a moody bitch like Rosalie when God had clearly reserved the most exquisite creature on earth just for me?_

"_I'm so selfish, Bella. I want too much, I want to control too much, things that are not mine to control. I know it, and I'm sorry. Please don't think ill of me for it - I couldn't stand it if you did._

"_God, Bella, please just tell me that you still love me."_

I handed her the journal and waited through her mental quiet as she absorbed it all.

_Oh, baby, oh Edward. Your honesty could never make me hate you. Watching you struggle to maintain your integrity in the midst of crisis could only ever deepen the amount of respect and love I hold for you. I love you, Edward. Still. Always._

_And I'm freaked out, too._

_God, this is weird. I'm eighteen and I'm two doors down from my future daughter-in-law. My dad doesn't even know I'm married yet, and I'm already actively freaking out about facing my own children's marriages._

_Oh, wow. Behold the irony._

_Huh. Well, okay, that lends some perspective. Bet you have a lot more respect for Charlie and Renee's position right now, don't you, sweetheart? I certainly do._

Despite my mood, I found myself chuckling into her breasts as I clung to her body with both hands, now.

I was quite suddenly so sick of her shirt. There were three layers between my mouth and her nipple and all three were suddenly very annoying to me. I'm sure my face betrayed my petulance as I sat up, pulled her up toward me, set the journal aside and peeled off her outer shirt.

_I wasn't quite done, sweetheart._

I gave her a look that begged her to continue, even as I stripped off the inner shirt. Then the bra. Then I realized she would be cold. Wow, I really wasn't firing on all cylinders. I grabbed the cashmere blanket from the other end of the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders and back, then laid her back down. I tucked the blanket around her ribs, leaving her shoulders and breasts free to me. I laid back down and mumbled against her breasts, "Please continue. Don't mind me."

I settled in and licked the underside of her breast, loving the salty sweet taste of her skin. My hand cupped that same breast and my fingers rubbed circles around and over her now distended nipple.

I had Bella, I thought as my tongue lazily lapped at the nipple in front of me. I had Bella, and I had no right to ask for anything else. If the wolf... if _she... if __**Leah**_ was the one to make Sebastian as happy as Bella makes me, then who am I to play God?

_Baby, oh... oh, yes, that's so nice Edward. Listen, I... oh... I think I'm okay with this. I mean, in general. In general I'm okay with this. Obviously she will at some point imprint on him, and he'll be mated to her, and they will in essence live happily ever after. And they'll still be part of our family. There's really nothing bad about this picture, I guess. So, I guess I'm okay with it. It's... you know... oh, oh, yes... Um, a little weird to know about it now, but the future comes whether you know about it or not, right?_

"I agree," I murmured. "Do you think we should tell her?"

_Well, I don't know. I mean... Edward, sweetheart, you need to... oooh, you need to stop that. I can't think when you do that. Seriously. Edward. Stop, please._

I didn't love it, but I did pause. I settled down with my head between her breasts, my lips up against the inside of her left breast, my hands motionless against her ribcage.

_Okay. Thank you, angel. So. Right. Um, where was I? Oh, right. Leah. Should we tell Leah. I don't know what's going on in her head right now, but I know that it's pretty inevitable that all the Cullens find out. And when - not if - Leah finds out that everyone knew years before she did... I can't imagine that feeling good for her. I know I would hate it. I would hate it a lot. A __**lot, **__a lot._

_Maybe... I mean, I wonder if we could tell her that Alice had a vision that we're just now understanding, and that we know that at some point in the sort of near future, in a few years, she will imprint on a charming young man. We know he will be charming, of course, because he will be your son. Not that we'll tell her that right away. But we tell her that we know she will imprint, and then ask her if she wants to know the details, and leave the rest up to her. Let her know that the rest of us will know, and if she doesn't want to know now, but wants to know later, then that can happen, you know? And maybe we should tell Rosalie first, and get her opinion. I mean, now that we know it was Leah in the vision, she has as much a right to know what is going on in it as any one of us._

I smiled, my chest filling with pride. My Bella saw into situations between people in ways I don't think I ever would.

_Besides,_ she thought, and she was giggling outright, now. _Leah's going to __**be**__ a Cullen! _Bella was laughing harder now. _Sebastian and Leah, sitting in a tree; k-i-s-s-i-n-g!_ Her mental voice had a sing-song quality to it.

I was tickling her ribs now, laughing along with her. It was a ridiculous song, but it was repeating in my own head now, except I had changed it from Sebastian and Leah to Bella and Edward.

_Stop, stop, stop! I need to breathe!_

I stopped and rested on her again, holding her torso as I lay comfortably on top of her.

_You need to tell Rosalie as soon as possible. I don't want Leah to suffer any longer than she has to._

My Bella; the most compassionate woman in the world. "I'll tell her now. We'll be back in just a few minutes, and then we can all talk, alright? We can tell the rest of the family as they come around, but just the four of us at first, okay?"

She nodded, and as I rose from the couch I also separated myself from Bella's mind. The world outside was as uncomfortable and chaotic as always. I called out gently to my sister, still standing next to the leather daybed.

"Rosalie, I have something very important to discuss with you, if you would be so kind as to oblige me with five minutes. It won't take longer than that, I promise."

_Fine. I assume this needs to be a private conversation. Meet you out back. Run and I'll follow._

I gave Bella a quick kiss and jumped out the open window in our bedroom, hitting the ground running. I stopped less than a minute later, just over a mile away, still in the thick forest. Rosalie wasn't far behind me.

_Yes? What is it? I assume it is very important - you know I would have preferred not to have left Leah just now._

"It is very important," I said. Then I explained the importance of the leather jacket that Leah had just picked out. I laid it all before my sister as quickly as any of us held our most important discussions.

"You're certain? Absolutely positive?"

"Absolutely," I said.

"And you have no idea who the other, unknown male was?"

"None."

"But you would recognize the jacket he wore?"

I was stunned again. I'd been so consumed with what I did know, I didn't spent much time considering such possibilities. As a matter of fact, his jacket was even more stylized than Leah's was. I would certainly recognize the patterns on the shoulders and sleeves. I nodded to answer Rosalie's questions, then posed Bella's suggestion.

"Well, we definitely need to tell her that she's going to imprint. She's in a very bad way right now, and I think that might help. I agree that we should give her the option to know everything, or just the reassurance itself. But I think that I should tell her alone. I can tell her that you recognized the jacket from one of Alice's visions - that's weird. We'll have to ask Alice about that: how was she able to have visions about the werewolves? Anyway. But I think it would work better if it was just me telling her.

"And as for telling her more... Edward, she's volatile. Even if she wants to know more, that doesn't mean she'll take it well. I'm not saying we shouldn't tell her if that's what she chooses, but I also know that she may say things she regrets. She is young and full of pain and anger. She may say things that are hurtful. She may cause you and Bella pain, needlessly. We have no idea how long it will be before she actually does imprint on Sebastian, and I can't imagine that it will sit well with her that Bella is actually younger than she is, and yet is destined to be her mother-in-law. I know that you and Bella mean well, and that you absolutely have a stake in this. This is shocking news, though, even for someone who is stable and well-balanced. Imagine trying to assimilate this while emotionally distraught, please, Edward," Rosalie said, her tone pleading as my expression got more and more mutinous. "Please, I know this is wonderful news that you want to share with her. But she is not yet the wonderful, stable, happy young woman that I know she will one day be with your son. Right now she is broken. She is horribly broken, and this may be what helps to heal her, but she isn't there yet. Let's not make this any more difficult for her, and lets not make you and Bella pay in emotional scar tissue for the healing that she must do for herself."

I nodded, hating that Rosalie was making an excellent point, hating that it was all so out of my own control.

We would go to Charlie's house. If Rosalie thought it best, then I didn't even want us to be in earshot.

***

Bella insisted on cooking, saying that she was completely out of practice, so I sat on the couch of the perceptive Charlie Swan, trying not to be completely still, my one almost irresistible inclination when I am so agitated. It is true that such an inclination is the exact opposite of a human reaction, but then again, I am not entirely human anymore.

I thought that I was fine, I'd thought that Bella and I had sufficiently worked through our anxiety about Leah Clearwater, but then Rosalie's reaction... even though I knew she was right to want to tell the wolf in private, it just made me so _angry_. I wanted to be there. I wanted Bella and I to tell her. I wanted Rosalie to be a bystander at best. It was _my_ son she was going to imprint on, after all. My son. My news. My joy, dammit.

"You okay, Edward?" Charlie asked, and when I glanced up at him I was caught in the same shrewd pair of brown eyes that his daughter had inherited.

I shifted slightly, not quite fidgeting, just a tiny human shift because I'd been sitting far too still for the last twenty minutes, and I knew it. I was getting sloppy around Charlie. Just because he knew, that was no excuse.

I smiled at him. "I'm fine," I said in my most reassuring voice.

Charlie's eyes got glassy for a moment before they focused on me again, then narrowed. "Don't," he said simply.

"Sorry," I murmured.

"I don't expect you to tell me everything. Surely you realize that by now. But is Bella in danger?"

"No," I said honestly, shaking my head.

"Bad news about the twins?"

My eyes darted to his before I caught myself, and he recognized my subtle gesture for the tell that it was.

"I'm listening," he said. His tone brooked no dodge.

I sighed and leaned down, scrubbing my face with the palms of my hands. "I'm just over-reacting," I ground out. "Bella, you notice, is calm." My face was still buried in my hands, but Charlie managed to hear me just fine.

"You don't seem the type to overreact," Charlie observed quietly.

The snort was out of me before I knew it. "You might be surprised, then," I replied.

Charlie waited. I had a feeling he had quite a lot of patience.

"I..." I started, then trailed off. "I am sometimes bothered by the fact that there are important things in my life, the outcomes of which... are _very _important to me, and yet I have no control over the situation."

"Welcome to the club," Charlie said, after a pause. "Thought you said you were older than me."

My single snort of laughter was silent and rueful. "I am used to having much more control in my life." I paused minutely to consider it. "All of that changed when I met Bella, of course."

I watched as Charlie's eyebrows quirked, as if to say, 'well, yes, what did you expect?'

"So," Charlie prompted. "How does this affect the twins?"

I took a deep breath and decided on full honesty. It felt strange.

"In a vision Alice had about the twins..." but then I trailed off. Something else had struck me that hadn't before. I simply hadn't put the two pieces of information together. But I was thinking clearly now, so now it _did _come together.

In Alice's first vision there were a great number of people out of sight but that I could pinpoint by smell. And just now I realized that two more of the unknown individuals in Bella's birthing room now had identities.

The two werewolves: Jacob Black and Leah Clearwater.

I had a sinking feeling about this.

That Leah might be in the birthing room made a certain amount of sense - not entirely, but a bit. It particularly made sense if she knew that her mate was about to be born. If it were me, I'd want to be there.

I had a brief fantasy about being able to know Bella as a child. I was certain that she would have been the world's most adorable, endearing, entrancing child. I wondered if I had met her as a child, if the mating process would have had to be different, or if I would have had to tear myself away for fear that my unnatural desires would do her psyche irreparable damage. I shuddered at the idea. Surely not. The very thought of harming Bella in any fashion, to say nothing of _that_ fashion made my skin crawl.

Surely not.

Bella and I would have a very candid conversation with Leah after the birth with Jasper in the room, and if there was so much as a single stray thought, a single flare of... oh, God... _lust... _Leah would be barred from his presence until Sebastian was sixteen.

That was really all there was to it.

But that train of thought, disturbing as it was, wasn't what made me drift off, mid-sentence.

It made sense for Leah to be in the room, but why was Jacob there?

Jacob, to my knowledge, owned no leather motorcycle jacket at this time, but certainly his stature was as perfect a match as I could tell to the man who partnered Elisabeth on her motorcycle. Or his, really.

Dear God, the Alpha was going to be my son-in-law? Would it _never _end? Could this situation _possibly _become more convoluted?

I glanced over to Charlie, mindful that I had only paused momentarily to have my slight freak-out.

"Well... Somethings she saw... the pieces are starting to fall into place." I resisted the urge to be absolutely motionless as I really wanted. I shifted my feet. "I know who my future daughter-in-law is. And I think I just figured out my future son-in-law. What upset me earlier was that I really wanted Bella and I to be the ones to tell her, but that wasn't a good idea. I recognize the wisdom of it, but that doesn't make me like it any more."

"So. Don't leave me in suspense," said Charlie.

"Leah Clearwater."

His brow furrowed. "Leah? Clearwater? Hasn't she been real sick the last few weeks?"

I raised an eyebrow and gave Charlie a somewhat incredulous look.

"Oh. Oh! Really?" he asked, leaning forward in his chair.

I nodded silently.

"Well. I'd heard she and Sam had broken it off. She's been a handful at home, so I hear. Sam's taken up with her best friend. I'm sure that hasn't helped matters."

"He imprinted," I confided. When Charlie looked confused, I elaborated. "It's involuntary and permanent. It's the shifter version of finding your mate."

Charlie sat back and chewed on that. I rose from the sofa.

"I need to go tell Bella."

"Thought you said she already knew," Charlie replied.

I nodded absently. "But not about Elisabeth's mate. It's not certain, but I think... I think I know."

I was a few steps farther before Charlie spoke. "Who?"

I said the name, then paused by his chair, turning back to look at him. "Thank you. For the talk."

Charlie nodded at me.

I joined Bella in the kitchen.

***

It was one of those nights, I thought as I eased myself into Bella's wet heat. When I dropped off the car I didn't even go inside. I didn't want to face Leah without Bella by my side. It had been one of my stressful days, and as wonderfully relaxing as it had been to simply hold Bella after dinner on the couch, deep in her mind as I quietly murmured chapter after chapter of Sense and Sensibility to her from memory as the baseball game droned on in the background - something we could do in front of Charlie, now - even as good as that had been it was still somehow not quite as complete as this was; her mind, her heart, her body and very, very soon, her blood.

It was a physical pain, knowing I couldn't stay here like this, buried deep within her, thrusting, twisting, pushing, pulsing, licking, stroking, biting, lapping, kissing, loving, holding, worshipping her moment after moment, hour after hour until the sky lightened with the morning. Still, I would as I could, lay my meager offerings before her even while I wallowed deep in the faith that she would not find me wanting.

My Bella. My wife.

I gently cupped her shoulders, the palms of my hands cradling her back while my fingers curled up and over the delicate curve, holding her securely, gently, tenderly as I moved within her. Her legs were in constant motion, now her thighs brushed against my sides, now her calves pushed against my ass, now her heels found purchase at the back of my knees as she ground her hips closer, closer, closer to mine.

My breath was a hiss out before I breathed deeply in, taking in her scent; fully aroused and intoxicating. I had to bite back the groan.

Her mind was blank, sweetly incoherent as she existed entirely in her experience without thinking about it at all. Still, the sensation of her mind was not to be missed, with or without her thoughts to flow through it like a river - sometimes swollen and racing with the spring melt, sometimes a lazy low stream that simply sauntered. And sometimes like now, absolutely bereft of thought, of water, like the desert of her home, bereft, but no less shocking in its beauty.

"Beautiful," I murmured to her, speaking into her skin, into her scent, into her blood that pulsed only just below the tissue paper-thin surface. "Beautiful. Bella, you are so beautiful," I whispered, my breath moving wisps of her dark and lovely hair. "I love you so much," I whispered. I didn't say it to her enough.

Bella made a quiet, breathy, hummy noise that assured me of her mindless and absolute assent. Her utter trust of me, her complete faith in our ability to weather any storm shook me to my core. I loved her to a shocking degree only truly apparent to me in moments such as this, laid bare as I was. Today, yet again, I had been stripped of my illusions of control, my illusions of being a powerful being in this world, my illusions of being the master of my own fate. It shouldn't be so shocking anymore, as this was not the first time it had happened since Bella arrived in my life, since my world tilted on its axis, and yet each time was no less shocking than the last.

How many times had Bella talked me down off my own personal ledge? How many times had I found solace in her expansive heart, healing in her mind, and wholeness in her body?

Tonight was just one more night. One more night that I dragged comforter and pillows down off our bed and onto the floor, one more night that my kisses took on a frantic tone until she took the trouble to shush me calm, one more night that once buried deep in her sweet pussy, I wanted never to leave.

Never.

It was a long time, never, and I couldn't quite imagine it, but I could very nearly do so. I could imagine night after night after night the same patch of forest as rain fell, snow dusted, flowers grew, leaves fell, a cycle that would repeat over and over again as the only signal that all of the years of forever were slowly sliding by as I maintained the deepest connection in the world with the only being who could ever truly understand me, my love. My Bella.

Her orgasm was my signal to stop, to end, to hasten the death of the most exquisite connection there ever was, ever could be. My chest felt tight with my resistance to the idea.

Still.

I bit her neck, letting my teeth gently brush against the fragile tissue. I filled my mouth completely before sealing the wound. I held the mouthful, almost shaking to do so for so long. I just wanted to draw it out, I just wanted to stay right here where all was good and pure and secure, my every sense overloaded with Bella, thought, sight, smell, taste, touch, and now sound.

Her fingernails scraped across my skull drawing a shiver up my back as I tried to hold off my orgasm, tried to resist the utter bliss of the blood.

"Edward, sweet Edward," she crooned to me softly, so softly. "Let go, angel. Let go. I won't leave you. I promise. Right here. Right here. Now and ever. Give in. Give it to me; give me your release."

I swallowed.

I groaned.

I buried my face in her neck, desolate and ecstatic as I pulsed rhythmically, my body wound as tight as a piano string until, yes, there, right there, I finally snapped.

I whimpered.

Release.

My Bella, my love, my wife; she fingered the chain around my waist as I lay collapsed above her, half my weight on my arms, the other half on her hips. Three breaths and I pulled out. Too fast, too soon, but one more breath and I would be hard again. It killed me to pull out. I didn't want to stop. I did it anyway.

I leaned back on my knees and pulled the top sheet down for Bella, who promptly crawled between the purple linens. I clicked on the electric blanket before tossing the pillows back up to her and flipping the comforter up and over the bed. Bella held up the coverings and I reached for the dry wash cloth before slipping into bed. This at least I could have: I would not have to move until the sun rose. I could read another night. Tonight I would simply press my body against her, anchor her to me with an arm around her waist and wrap myself in her mind.

It would be enough. It had to be.

***

Leah had opted not to know the identity of her imprint, but the very thought of it had apparently changed her for the better. This, from Rose. For my part, I couldn't tell a discernible difference from Leah before and after. She had already backed off the ledge she'd been precariously perched upon when she'd arrived at the house yesterday morning by the time we'd come home from school. She didn't seem to be much different to me now, but then again, I wasn't Jasper.

Still, there were little things, strange things.

Once again Bella 'picked me up' and I timed leaving her father's house such that she would be arriving at our house just as I was stepping out of the shower and getting dressed. Leah was already downstairs offering Bella coffee when I entered the living room. Bella and I had already agreed that I wouldn't be in her head until we were on our way to school.

_Oh it's him,_ Leah thought when she caught me out of the corner of her eye, coming into the room. _Guess he can't be all bad if Bella likes him. Though with guys you never can tell. I wonder if its different with the vamps. I hear he cooks well, though not as good as Emmett. I wonder if he'd ever just dump Bella. It's like imprinting, so I guess not. I'm going to imprint. That's so surreal. I wonder if I should ask my girl, R, who it is. I wonder how she knows. I thought that Alice girl wasn't supposed to be able to see us or something. Fucking freaky-assed vampire powers._

_Oh my god, he's probably listening in. But maybe not. Probably not. He probably doesn't give a shit. I heard he can turn it off when Bella's around. That's handy. Maybe that's why he keeps her around._

I tried not to let Leah's slightly vitriolic and certainly bitter running commentary get to me. Instead, I calmly walked to the refrigerator and pulled out the half and half for Bella, and brought the container of sugar to her from the other side of the kitchen. Leah, in true fashion of all who took their coffee black, never imagined anyone else might need to add something to it. I fetched a spoon while I was at it.

_Thank you, baby! _I heard Bella think purposely and clearly. It never ceased to amuse me that Bella would rather think to me than speak to me. I smiled and let it go.

"Good morning, Leah," I said pleasantly. "Did you sleep well?"

"S'okay," she said before burying herself in her coffee cup. _Itches, itches, itches, god my skin just itches everywhere. I need to go for a run. Or maybe a walk. Then I'll have to get used to the smell all over again, but what the hell. Then maybe I'll go out on the bike for awhile. I wonder if my girl, R, wants to go for a run. Even if I don't phase, I can still go pretty fast. Maybe that will help. I can't phase. I can't can't can't won't phase. I won't do it. They can't make me. No one can make me. If I don't phase for long enough it'll just go away._

_I wonder if it goes away, will I still imprint? R made it sound like it could be a while. Great. Fucking great. The Giant Douchebag gets to imprint in his second week, the asshole, and I have to wait. Maybe for years._

_At least Jake hasn't imprinted. But there's time. Maybe everyone will imprint but me. Maybe if I don't shift I won't ever imprint. But who would want me to imprint on them? Poor guy. I pity the shit. No guy in his right mind would want a bitchy werewolf for a girlfriend._

_I probably won't imprint. I bet I won't. I bet if I keep not phasing I'll stop being one and then the rules won't apply to me._

_Fuck, I should get away from this place. Away from the Rez, away from this god-forsaken sunless place. I wonder if I could get a job in Seattle, or maybe Portland. Maybe save up for a couple of years and start at a community college. I wonder if R would let me take the bike. She said it was mine, but it's... people don't just give gifts like that without strings attached. No, I should probably leave it. Leave it and go, leave it and go, I should just get out of here. Don't phase, don't imprint, just put it all behind me and forget about it. Forget, forget, forget. Pity the vamps don't have that power. Make me forget. They'd make a killing with that one._

I couldn't take it anymore.

"It might be a stretch to imagine right now, Leah," I said calmly, softly. "But I would think that the young man you imprint on will need you as much as you need him. You'll meet him here and I assure you, you _will_ imprint on him."

_What? Fuck! He heard! He was listening. Of course he was fucking listening. It's what he does. God dammit. How does he know? Wait, R said he knew. Said everyone would know, the family would know. Everybody knows but me. Maybe I should ask. Maybe. Maybe later. It's not like it's going to happen tomorrow. I have time. I have time. How much time?_

"At least another year," I said.

"A year?" she asked, the horror plain in her voice.

Bella must have picked up on the gist of our conversation - not difficult to reconstruct, I was certain - because she chimed in. "It's not as long as you might think. Or, well, maybe it is. I... just... there are a lot of people in this family that have had to wait decades, centuries, even. Of course, I'm not one of them," Bella said, shrugging and looking at a loss for words.

I wasn't at all sure that her addition to the conversation, as well meant as it was, was helpful, but that was before Leah's reaction.

The wolf -no, her name is Leah- snorted and rolled her eyes, but there was a tiny smile that turned the corner of her lips. _Bella is such a nice person. Awkward as fuck, but she's just... like... good. And normal. She's just... I wonder if we could be friends. Not that she would want to be friends with a cunt like me._

"Yes she would," I said, cutting off her self-destructive diatribe.

_Seriously? You're not just fucking with my head to make me feel better?_ Leah looked directly at me now, eyes narrowed, challenging me.

"Seriously," I responded. "But you'll only find out that I'm right if you stick around."

_Stick around. You guys don't really want me here. I don't really belong here. Tribal Council's probably flipping out. Probably think you're holding me hostage or something. I'm probably fucking up the treaty, and that's not right, I shouldn't do that to you guys, you've been nothing but nice to me. I should go, should go, should go..._

"Stick around," I urged. "As long as you want. Two days, ten years, as long as you need. Jacob will know soon enough that you're here of your own free will. He'll pass the message along. You have a home with us for as long as you want it."

_Why... how... wow, I mean... fuck... I... shit, I... why... why would you say that? Why do you give a shit? I'm just some fucking basket case tribal shape shifter. You're like, a coven of ancient vampires or some shit. You travel the world. You're not even here most of the time. Why would you want me with you? _

I was silent, assuming that she didn't mean for me to answer that line of questioning.

_Well? Aren't you going to answer? Why? Why, why, why, why?_

"Because you're a part of our lives now, and you need it," I answered simply. "We none of us were born into this family. None of us are here, except that we have at some point made the choice to join, or stay, or return. We are a part of each other's lives because we decide to be, not because we are obliged to be."

"I... what are you saying?" she asked in a whisper.

"I'm saying that if you want to be, you can be a part of this family."

"Just like that," Leah said in a whisper, but she took on the look of a trapped animal. Shit, had I gone too far?

"Yes," I said.

And then she was gone. The coffee spilled from the counter to the floor but Leah was off and running. But I notice she sought the sanctuary not of the woods, but of the third floor.

It would be okay. Eventually.

***

"Why don't you wear his ring, Bells?" Charlie asked. They were sitting downs stairs still, and I'd only just arrived back, entering Bella's room from the window. It felt very strange to do this, now that Charlie knew part of the story. Still, I wasn't prepared to give up my time with Bella for anyone.

"We didn't want to make a big issue out of it," I heard her reply. _I wonder if he's back yet. I bet he is. It's time._

Charlie made a sort of humphing noise, and not for the first time I wished I could hear his thoughts. It really would make life easier. Trust to my luck that the one person I can't hear is my father-in-law. Oh well. It could be worse, I suppose, though I have a hard time imagining it.

"But you want to get married right after graduation, correct?"

"That's the current plan. Just a small wedding. Family. Friends. The pack and maybe the Tribal Council. That sort of thing."

"Then maybe you two ought to think about going public with your engagement sooner rather than later. Maybe when you come back from Christmas break. And you need to talk with a preacher well in advance of that, Bells. They've got hoops they'll want you to jump through and that will take some time."

"Hoops?" _What the hell is he talking about? But Christmas isn't a bad time. He's got a point there._

"Pre-marital councilng, Bells. No minister worth their salt is going to let you get away without it, particularly given your age. So, if you're going to go with... what was it? Which church?"

"The Episcopal Church."

"Huh."

"Edward's family was Episcopalian, not that he has much memory of it, and Carlisle, his father was an Anglican priest in London. Carlisle remains, well, I think surprisingly religous, all things considered."

"Never can tell with PK's," Charlie said, crypitically. "Preacher's Kids," he clarified for Bella a moment later. "Sometimes they turn out to be real good kids, like Pastor Webber's kids, and sometimes they turn out to be little hellions like Pastor Payne's kids. Usually don't turn out somewhere in between. Figures Carlisle would be a good one."

"Edward says he occasionally goes to church, though I can't actually picture it, but still. His occasional affiliation beats our semi-annual attendance. I mean, we totally missed Easter this year."

"Did you want to go to Church on Easter? You should have said something."

I could hear Bella shrug. I didn't realize she'd wanted that either, or I would have made sure it happened. Her ability to compartmentalize was occasionally frustrating.

"Renee never went. You know that. But sometimes, in the past couple of years... well, there was a pretty good church just around the corner from us. I can't remember what kind. It wasn't Catholic, I know that. But yeah, I'd go some. Just sit in the back, kind of thing, sneak out before they could do that friendly interrogation thing they do. They had a pretty Christmas Eve service and a pretty cool Easter morning service, but their same-old same-old on Sunday morning wasn't bad, either."

I wanted to know. I needed to know. It was something Bella had tentatively cherished, sought out on her own when her mother had yet again not provided everything she needed. This was a side of Bella I had yet to begin to understand and I craved information.

We would have to travel to Phoenix sometime in the next few years. I wanted to walk the streets she walked. I wanted to smell the creosote. I wanted to look at the desert landscape wrapped in the comfort of her mind, bombarded with sight, sound, scent and memory all at once.

If she would be able to remember.

Perhaps we could travel there before her change. I wanted to be able to remember for her, if need be.

I fell in love with her in the lush, dense, dark, rainforest of the Pacific North West, the place that gave birth to my love, but I wanted to see how this fern of the rainforest thrived among the aloe and agave of the bare, bright, brown desert landscape. I wanted it, but I also needed it. It was a part of Bella I didn't yet understand, uncharted territory.

Their conversation trailed off after that, but I was already making plans. Spring break, two weeks of vacation around _Easter. _We should definitely go to Phoenix. We should definitely go to Bella's little corner church. And for Christmas Eve we would be in Jacksonville, but I would find out what Bella wanted for a church, I would do the research, and we would go.

I wondered if Bella wanted to go to church around here. I would research the service times for the Episcopal church in Port Angeles. We could start there.

***

**End Note:** You know I'd like to know what you think of the chapter, right? We've got Edward Freaking, lemons, Church, homicidal bitchy in-laws, and a heart-to-heart with Charlie. It's as DESS turns over here. So, what do you think? I'm dying to find out...


	31. Edward's Girls

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

***

**Book Two:** One More Year 'Til Forever  
**Chapter 8: ** Edward's Girls  
**Beta:** Colleen P., for her and her popcorn. You know, for the Forks High Dinner Theatre. Yes, we have another installment.

**Author's Note: This chapter started out because I wanted to write a lemon. So I did. In fact, it is the lemon that I promised Edward after his pissy little bout of temper that I included in the author's note of Chapter 7: Motorcycle Jacket. Then I continued on with the plot.**

***

Bella's body was my playground.

I didn't hold back. I growled and snapped at her playfully from my position prone beneath her. We were in our four hours of bliss until the dinner that Emmett was preparing for Bella and some of the wolves, and there wasn't a single reason for me to be quiet. And I wasn't.

My hands were cupping her luscious breasts, fingers tracing gently over her pebbled nipples as she rode me, her nails scraping deliciously against my forearms. Her moans filled my ears and her thoughts my thoughts as I groaned and growled at her.

_Oh, Edward, oh baby. That's it, angel. So good. You're so good to me._

I shifted my hands to her hips to help her ride me, but decided quite suddenly that I wanted to force my orgasm _right now._

"Come here, _bunny,_" I said softly through my growl. I didn't think it was a terribly flattering sound but Bella assured me that 'it did it' for her. I thought it sounded rather like I was snarling orders at her, but perhaps that was just my skewed point of view.

Still, Bella knew what I wanted. She braced her hands on my shoulders and slowly, rolling her hips into me all the while, lowered her torso to meet mine. Our skin touched, slid, burning and chilling, and it was so pleasurable a thing that my growl sharpened until I was snarling as I thrust into her.

"Fuck, Bella, yes. _God, yes."_ I murmured the last against her mouth before she pressed her tongue between my lips. The relief of her tongue sliding against mine drew a groan from deep inside of me. One hand still on her hip, I stroked her back with the other, tracing the long line of her spine with the tips of my fingers.

_That's it, baby. You want to come, don't you? Cum Bunny to the rescue, huh? So what are you waiting for, you big, bad, vampire... What if I want it, too? Hmm? What if I want your thick, solid cock to pulse and throb and come and come and come all over my tender little pussy? Hmm? How about __**that**__, Edward? Will you come over and over again, tonight? Fill me up, then clean me in the shower? Hmm?_

I wallowed in her thoughts, delicious and dirty, and broke the kiss long enough to rasp out, "God, Bella, don't stop. Keep talking, _keep talking,"_ and then I was in her mouth again, my desire to force my orgasm at bay while I tended to my desire to keep Bella talking -well, _thinking_- about my cock in her pussy.

She rocked on me steadily as I thrust up into her, gently.

_My sweet angelic turn-of-the-century gentleman wants to hear all about it, huh? Well, did you know that today in gym when I caught a glint of my chain at your waist, I just wanted to tackle you to the mats and bite? Oh, angel, I wanted to start at your hipbones and end up with my teeth around your cock. I figured that would be a non-starter for Coach Clapp, though, so I tried not to dwell on it. But I knew I'd get you for hours and hours this afternoon, I knew you wouldn't make me go to sleep without at least one more orgasm. I knew you'd wake me in the morning with your tongue buried in my pussy... Ooo, and I was right, I was so right._

_Baby, I love your cock so much. I'm sure it's wrong to even think it--_

I broke off the kiss at that, because we'll be having _none_ of that. "Not wrong!" I growled at her, thrusting a bit harder, staying deeper longer. "Go ahead and love it," I said, still growling. "I want you to love it, crave it, adore it, _please, God, yes."_ Then I was kissing her again.

_Oh, good. Because I do. Oh, baby, I love your cock. What about you? Does the purveyor of my favorite cock, my only cock, the cock I love to have against my skin, in my mouth, thrusting so hard in my pussy, the cock that tastes so good, does he like my pussy? Could he possibly like my pussy as much as I adore his cock?_

Our kiss paused as I threw my head back and groaned. "Oh, God, yes, yes, yes, Bella, _yes."_

_Say it,_ she challenged me silently.

"Oh, God," I groaned. "I _love_ your pussy. So hot. So wet. So _fucking sweet._ I just want to worship it for days on end. Weeks. Fuck, Bella, I want to spend two weeks with my face buried in your pussy, and, ah... you fucking know it."

"Yeah?" Bella panted before latching onto my neck with lips and tongue and teeth, pulling, sucking, biting.

"Oh yeah," I confirmed. I had both hands filled with her round ass as I pulled her onto me. Her perfect pussy clenched on me as I slid in and out, slipping easily with the sheer volume of lubrication she provided in her desire for me, for this. God, I was made for this, and I just didn't want to be anywhere else.

_More. Tell me more._ She punctuated the thought with a particularly hard suck. I shivered and thrust harder.

I smirked, but just barely. "You just want to hear it," I growled out lowly. "You just want to hear how much I'm willing to beg for your pussy. Well, bite me harder and I'll see what I can do," I taunted.

She did. Oh, sweet Jesus, she did.

"_Oh, fuck!"_ I exclaimed as a harsh shudder wracked my body. "Please, please, oh, God, please... Bella, I think... Oh, holy _fuck..._ I... Oh, shit... Bella, I think... I'm... coming..."

Immediately I felt Bella's fingernails squeezing my right nipple as the nails on her other hand did their best to shred the side of my torso.

_That's it baby. Oh, Edward... so beautiful. You're so sexy when you come, baby._

I snarled as I road out wave after wave, throbbing and pulsing and spurting deeply into the most heavenly pussy. I was blissfully incoherent in my lust, filled all at once with a deep sense of mutual possession - she was utterly mine, I was utterly hers - and a profound sense of gratitude. Words could not express it. I didn't try. I just felt it.

I lay beneath her, gasping afterwards.

Bella perched herself atop me, her elbows resting on my shoulders as she put her chin in her hands and grinned down at me. "That was unexpected," she commented, her lips twisted in wry humor, referring to my orgasm sans blood.

I'll show you unexpected.

I lurched forward, created a protective cage around her body and launched us onto the floor. I was hard again and getting harder.

"That was less unexpected," she breathed out.

I narrowed my eyes and pulled out. By the time I thrust back in again, I was fully hard once more. Bella gasped. I grinned.

"That was downright predictable," she said in a fragmented whisper.

What did she think I was going to do? Get dressed and walk out?

***

_It's getting harder and harder to do homework while I eat. The meals are only getting better and more complex. Also, Jake needs to get his ass back to class. I don't care if he's Alpha. He's also a sophomore, though if he's seen the inside of a classroom this year, I'd be surprised. And it's the middle of October, already._

I made a mental note to discuss it privately with Rosalie.

The wolves - Leah, Jacob, Jared, and the newest one, Quil (scandalous, but apparently true) - were all quiet as they consumed vast quantities of food. Leah less so than the others, but then, she also hadn't shifted in a least a week. It was still bothering her, but she refused. Still, Leah ate at least three times what Bella did. Granted, Leah was significantly larger than Bella, and maintaining a shifter's metabolism, but it was interesting to watch. Bella was the first person I'd ever paid attention to during the act of eating, so it was novel to compare.

When dinner was over Emmett taught some of the wolves how to play poker at the dinner table and Rosalie joined them while Esme, Carlisle, Bella and I played Scrabble, the board laid out on the living room floor before us as we variously lounged around its four sides. As I hated to see Bella flounder and she got so angry when we threw the game, we met in the middle ground and she let me make suggestions for her hand.

It wasn't long before Leah wandered over, apparently showing no aptitude for poker. She curled up on the floor on Bella's other side and silently watched our game. When I glanced over I saw her looking at my hand as it lay very casually on Bella's knee. Bella was sitting cross-legged before the game board, but I had quickly stretched out and laid my head in her lap.

_Your head's like marble, baby. Get me a pillow and let's continue this, modified._

I was back before she could blink, rearranging myself, slipping a pillow between her tender thigh and my entirely-too-solid head. Six rounds later we shifted again.

_It was fun while it lasted, Edward, but now my leg's falling asleep._

I wasn't surprised. I could set a clock by how long it took before Bella's legs fell asleep while she sat on the floor like this. Fourteen minutes and twelve seconds, normally. Thirteen minutes and seven seconds, with my head on her leg.

We shifted and I pulled her with me, certain that she would manage to upset the board and all the tiles if left to her own devices. I moved to a more central position between our two spaces and reclined, holding myself up with an elbow so I could maintain a fifty-five degree angle. Bella sat on the floor between my legs and snuggled in against my torso, laying against me on her side so she could observe the board and our two trays of tiles.

"Newlyweds," I heard Jacob scoff from the other room. "They're always like this," he explained to the newcomer.

"Give us ten years and we'll even out," I muttered, pulling Bella's thick mane over one shoulder before trailing my hand down her side, keeping it there. She would have to make my moves for me, but she'd be fine with it, I was certain.

"Wolves," I said to Bella. "Use the 's' from 'Scapegoat'," I directed.

"Good one," Leah remarked as Carlisle kept the tally on our points for Bella's benefit.

I turned to her and our eyes connected. I couldn't hear what she was thinking so I came out of Bella's head a bit, raising my fingers to scratch lightly at the back of my love's neck. Scratch, rub, scratch, rub; our code for half in, half out.

_-- so perfect for each other. I wonder who it is. I'm dying to know. I hope I can end up like Bella and Edward. He's really cute, too. Wouldn't hurt if my guy could be even half as cute._

I tried not to smirk. I wondered what Sebastian would look like, too. Would he look like me when he reached his maturity? What would a blend of Bella and me look like? I couldn't wait to find out.

_I should ask my girl, R. Maybe. I don't know. Maybe not._

I watched as Leah shifted restlessly.

_I wonder what it means that Edward invited me to become one of the family. Not even R does that, and I certainly don't think any of the rest of the pack has gotten that kind of treatment. I mean, what's going on?_

I couldn't take it.

"Leah, would you like to go for a run?"

The room got very quiet, but I don't think she noticed.

"With you?" she asked, her tone unintentionally sneering. At least, I suspected it was unintentional. I didn't let it get to me.

"And Bella," I amended.

'I'm not shifting," she hedged.

"I'm not urging you to."

"I'm not as fast," she said, trailing off. I didn't let her demurring stop me.

"No one is," I said with a cocky grin that made her snort and roll her eyes - exactly my intention. Bella shifted on me such that she was now laying chest to chest, her arms around me as she snuggled into me and chortled mentally.

_You are so up to something, angel. I wonder what it is. Where did we leave my running harness? Is it upstairs? I should pee before we go. Are you going to hunt? No, that would probably be a bad idea, never mind.__ Of course you're not going to hunt. And Leah just ate. A lot. Should she be running after eating so much? Hmm. I wonder._

Bella's thoughts bubbled on like a sweet and peaceful stream around me. I let them wash over me and calm me as I conversed with Leah who, admittedly, had her moments, and was having one right now.

"You're not done with your game," Leah remarked. Her tone was still snide. _It would be nice to run with someone. That's so weird. I'd heard about Bella running with Edward, but how weird is that. God, she's just a normal human. How do they make that work? Any of it? How do they make __**any**__ of it work? I mean yeah, they have sex like, all the time, but how does __**that**__ even work?_

I watched as Carlisle smiled a benign smile, reached over, and nonchalantly tipped over my tile tray, then Bella's tile tray.

"As I thought," he said. "You weren't going to win anyway." He turned to Esme. "Don't you love beating Edward in games? The novelty _never_ wears off. He was so damn smug before, too. It just makes it all the sweeter, now," Carlisle said with a grin. Esme reached over and kissed him.

"I have no idea where he gets that from," Esme muttered against her husband's lips before kissing him again.

_They are so cute together, _I heard Bella think._ You know, I don't think I've ever seen Carlisle and Esme kiss, though I'm sure they do. It's like Jasper and Alice. I see them hold hands, but kiss? I wonder if they're just really private about their affection. Wow. Comparatively speaking, Edward, honey, we have no control at all. Should I be worried about this?_

I rubbed up and down Bella's side, attempting to sooth her silently in response to her fears.

"So?" I asked Leah.

She shrugged one shoulder. _Sure. Whatever. I'll be outside._

"We'll be right out."

Bella and I took the stairs at a sedate pace and I waited, seated at the end of our bed with the harness in my hands while Bella had the aforementioned human moment.

_Don't let this be one of the times you lose track of time. We don't want to mess up with Charlie now._

My lips curled as I replied in a mock-bored tone, "Yes, dear."

Bella's eyes were narrowed when she emerged only a moment later.

_Who's__ a sassy-cat now?_

My laughter was loud and strong at that.

"I am, apparently. What did you intend to do about it?" I smirked at her as she approached me and hopped on my back. I secure the harness around the both of us as she replied.

"Nothing," she said, her voice all innocence. _Nothing until much later tonight when you won't get any playtime at all. None. No playtime for Edward the sassy-cat._ And then I saw a very vivid momentary flash of fantasy of just what Bella had planned for me tonight. Fellatio, with Bella on her knees by my feet as I stood at the window, until her jaw got tired. She let me come then, and we curled together in bed, but it wasn't over. As I held her innocently from behind, Bella was bringing herself off without me. One of my arms was folded beneath the pillow she rested her head on, the other was tucked gently around her waist as I sometimes did. She imagined that wrong, however. She didn't assume that I would be hard and pressed against her ass the entire time, which I could guarantee would be the case.

I groaned. "That's evil, baby." She knew a scenario such as that would be sweet torture for me. In the future when we could have longer sessions, this much as a prelude might not be a problem, but I was certain that in the future when we could have longer sessions, the torture would only continue. Note to self: Never, ever say 'yes, dear' to Bella.

_Hey, we're in this together. I don't antagonize you for the hell of it. I expect the same._

Her tone alerted me to the fact that she was very serious about this. "I'm sorry, Bella," I whispered, my head turned as much as I could. Truly, I hadn't meant to annoy her. She kissed my cheek. "Accepted." _You're still not bringing me off tonight. Think of it as a natural consequence of your actions._

I groaned and accepted it before opening the window and jumping out of it. Next time she nagged me with obvious information for which I had already accounted I'd figure out a more helpful reply. Maybe then we'd get to the root of her fear instead of both of us having to deal with annoying each other, and me missing out on a night of play with my favorite toy...

Live and learn.

***

Leah could run on two feet faster than even an Olympiad, but Bella's eyes could focus on the trees as we passed them, just one indicator that we weren't yet going at even the slowest speeds I would normally use with her. Still, I think the running helped. At least, I hoped it did.

I admit that I was developing something of a soft spot for Leah. Rationally I knew it was because she would one day be my daughter-in-law. I was shuddering less and less when I thought about that. I trusted Rosalie that the girl just needed time to heal, time away from Sam and his happiness.

I wondered if we could arrange with Jacob and Sam a schedule or something so that Leah could shift without having to fear the imposition of pack-mind, specifically Sam. I had nothing against the young man, but I wanted what was best for Leah, now.

"Can you talk while you run, Leah?"

_Why would I need to, O Omniscient Telepath? _Leah replied.

"So Bella can participate in our conversation," I said.

_Oh. Good point. I don't know. _"Maybe," she said without much effort. "I guess, yeah. Why? Are we running so you two can give me the third degree?"

"No," Bella responded placidly from my shoulder where she was resting her chin. I was glad, not for the first time, that I was able to run with a completely smooth gait. "Besides, I think we'll leave that for Rosalie. I think she'd be better at it than us."

"There isn't much privacy at the house, that's all," I said.

"So you _do_ want answers. Fine. Whatever." I couldn't see her roll her eyes, but I was certain she was doing it all the same.

"What do you like to do? For fun?"

_What? That's not what I expected. _"Uh... I, uh, I like to surf. I mean, when I get the chance to borrow a board and a wetsuit." _Which isn't often, or likely, now. Emily and I saved up to buy a suit together. Fucking bitch._

"Surfing, huh?" Bella asked. "Edward, have you ever been surfing?"

I loved her, I loved her, I loved her.

"Nope," I responded casually. "But it sounds like fun. Leah, would you be willing to teach me how to surf?"

She snorted _I don't even know where to start. You can't come on our land, I don't have a board or a suit, I don't know any other decent place to catch waves. _"I don't know," she said, but I knew it wasn't even close to a strong negative.

"Did you know that Jacob gave us a very generous wedding gift? He and Carlisle rewrote the treaty. Edward can go down to First Beach now. I know that's where you guys always went to surf. I don't know if that was holding you back, or not, but... you know..."

It was almost like she was the mind reader. God bless Bella's intuition and interpersonal skills.

"We could go shopping for some boards tomorrow or the next day, if you like. We probably wouldn't need the wetsuits, except to keep up appearances," I said.

_**Edward in a wetsuit!**_ I heard Bella mentally gasp out. I couldn't help the smile that came across my features. I reached back and caressed her cheek, briefly. Her mind quieted down after that.

_More stuff. They're buying me more stuff, as if the clothes and the food and the room on the third floor and the motorcycle wasn't enough. I'll never pay them back for all of this._

"Please?" I asked. "Think of it as payment for teaching me to surf, if you like. Besides. You'll never manage a surfboard on your Ducati. We'll need to take the Volvo."

"What about you, Bella? Am I going to teach you to surf, too?"

Yes! I _had_ her.

"Um, wow. Thanks. But I'm not sure my coordination is up for that at this point in my life. And I'm pretty sure you're going to need a cheerleader on the beach. You know, someone to guard the munchies and bottles of water. And towels. You guys will need nice, warm, dry towels. And I'm so up for that. Me and my towels. That's my job."

Leah laughed a little at that, and in that moment I _could _see what Rosalie was talking about.

_She's okay. Hmm. The wetsuits. _"I never thought about that. I mean, the wetsuits. Shoot, I could probably go cliff diving, too," Leah said.

"That's another thing I'm not going to try, but I'll be happy to cheer you both on when you go over the edge," Bella said with a smile.

I laughed. "Thank you, sweetheart."

"Just one of the many services I offer," Bella replied glibly. I could still hear her smile.

Leah snorted again. _You guys are too cute._

I glanced over and caught Leah's eye and smiled a moment, just for her. She rolled her eyes, but she also smiled just a tiny bit before looking off again.

We had been running in silence for thirty-seven minutes, running roughly in an arc and we were, by my estimate, another twenty-three minutes from home at our present rate. It was at this point that Leah called us to a stop. I surveyed her quickly, but her heart rate and thoughts were not at all alarming, so I waited and watched as she flopped down in the leaves and pine needles. I unstrapped the harness and felt Bella stretch her limbs deliciously around my body while she mewled softly.

I pushed down my groan. Now was _so_ not the time for a fantasy of sex in the woods with Bella.

Instead I sat down a few feet away from Leah and pulled Bella into my lap so she wouldn't have to sit on the ground, something I knew she avoided whenever possible.

"You guys are great to hang out with, and you've been really good to me, but seriously. You make my skin itch."

Here it comes.

"If you knew it was safe, if there were no other shifters changed, would you feel comfortable doing it then?" I asked.

Leah sniffed as her thoughts flew in picture form a mile a minute through her head. Sam. Emily. Memories of Emily soundly rejecting him, memories of Emily kissing him. The feel of the woods flying by, senses heightened, exhilaration high. The feel of surfing, of sliding through the waves, of the water and the wind and the current and the board. The feeling of speed on the Ducati, opening it up on a stretch of highway. Her little brother's laughter. Her parents. Happier times.

"I can't ask them to do that," she whispered.

"Maybe not," Bella mused. "But I can. And Edward? He has no shame. He'd do it, too."

"Want me to do it right now? We can run back the old fashioned way."

Leah shrugged. _Yes. But don't make me say it._

I pulled out my cell phone and proceeded to have a brief conversation with Jacob. We settled several things. Barring other, extenuating circumstances, between eight and nine every morning no one else would be shifting. While we spoke Quil had gone in the other room to shift and shift back to make sure that Sam wasn't in wolf form. We also both agreed that Leah should have a cell phone, but I left that up to the midwife/den mother.

Leah had been listening to the conversation, but even Bella had overheard most of it. Jacob was not a quiet fellow.

"I'll carry your clothes," Bella volunteered as she put her hand over my eyes and closed her own.

"Thanks," Leah muttered as she sprung to her feet and started disrobing. I could hear her folding her clothes carefully before she shifted.

_Oh, shit that feels good._

"She's done," I said softly to Bella.

"You're really pretty," Bella said, looking at Leah with her head tilted.

_Thanks,_ Leah thought.

I echoed the sentiment so Bella would know.

"Ready to run?" I asked, helping Bella to her feet and back on my back when I was on mine. I strapped her in as Leah gave her response, a deep appreciative sniff before she threw her head back and howled.

I felt the shiver go down Bella's spine and barely suppressed my own.

"That's some set of lungs you got on you, girl," Bella remarked, her sarcasm a thin veil covering her moment of shock and fear.

We were home in ten minutes but Leah didn't seem to mind at all. We closed our eyes as she changed where we stood, just within the line of trees beyond the meadow in which the house was situated.

"Whoo! Thanks. Wow. I feel so much better."

Bella was already standing at this point, holding the harness in one hand. I watched in surprise when Bella pulled Leah into a quick and not entirely awkward hug. Leah was easily six foot tall in flip flops, the shortest of the wolves, but nearly as tall as I was. She was significantly taller than Bella. Still, it worked.

_I still don't get why you guys are being so cool, but fuck it. I'm going to stop looking this gift horse in the mouth. Bring it on. Let the perpetual Be Nice to Leah Festival commence. As you were._

I crowed with laughter - I really couldn't help it, when Leah wasn't ragingly pissed off she was actually quite amusing. I slung one arm around her shoulders and one around Bella's waist as we set off for the front door.

I couldn't help but think in that moment, _my girls._

It was weird to have a daughter-in-law before I technically had a son, but what the hell. Such was life.

***

I picked up Bella for school that day, a Wednesday, which meant dinner at Charlie's. I'd already adjusted the menu to give Bella, Leah and I time to go shopping after school.

When we pulled up in front of the house at seven minutes past three in the afternoon, Leah was already waiting outside, her leather Jacket and a pair of black Doc Martins added to the standard issue dark wash jeans and white tank top. With her hair cropped short, I had to admit - she looked pretty badassed, to quote Emmett. She only required some visible tattoos and facial piercings. And possibly some jewelry.

I grinned, wondering if Sebastian would wish to use my mother's engagement ring. I had wanted to get Bella something else, but had intended to make it simply a wedding gift to her, but after Jacob's gift I'd been completely blown away. I'd actually forgotten about it. Jasper handed it back to me quietly later that afternoon.

I smiled at the thought of my mother's engagement ring on Leah's finger. I was more content with the idea than I would have been two weeks ago.

Leah slid into the back seat and we sped off, back to town. We were heading to Newton's Outfitters to see if we could find what we needed there, or if we would have to go to Port Angeles, which we would have time to do today, or Seattle, which would have to wait for the weekend.

"So I guess most places known for their surfing are also known for their sun, huh?"

"True," I said.

"But you could still surf at night."

"That's true," I said. "There's a place in Brazil we like to go, but the place where we stay doesn't have the best waves. Back on the coast, though, the waves aren't too bad there. We could go surfing at night, there."

_Is that the island your thinking about for the honeymoon?_ Bella asked me silently, looking over and taking my hand in hers.

I glanced at her and nodded just slightly, a movement much more perceptible than one I might use with my family, but still a subtle movement.

The rest of the ride was in relative silence. I was out of Bella's head enough to be able to hear Leah, but only because I was concentrating. I wouldn't be able to hear anyone else, not the people we passed on the road through town, or any of the people in the store where we were going. Normally, standing in the middle of town I was bombarded with the din of no fewer than two thousand voices. Everyone within a five mile radius.

Words could not express how deeply I appreciated Bella's presence in my life. Hell, we might be able to actually live in a city. I never thought that was an option for me.

I went to New York City once, early on. And I almost went insane before Carlisle was able to get me out...

Maybe not.

When we pulled into the parking lot, I was out of the car as quickly as was humanly possible, and I opened Leah's door for her, as she was sitting directly behind me. She glared at me and I just grinned, leaving her to it as I went around the other side of the car and opened Bella's door, offering her my hand as she got out - rather gracefully, all told - and stepped away from the car so I could shut the door.

Leah made it to the door of the shop before us, and she held it open, one eyebrow raised at me.

"Thank you, Leah," I said with a smile.

_God, when were you born, Edward? Don't you realize that no body does that shit any more?_

"1901," I said softly as I passed her.

_No shit? Wow. That's a while. And yet, I sort of thought you'd be older than that. You're only like, a hundred and change. Dude, you're like a baby in vampire-years. Maybe a toddler._

It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "Watch it young lady," I muttered as Bella greeted Mike Newton who stood behind the counter looking at us with undisguised interest.

Leah snorted at me and peeled off down an aisle to where I knew the equipment for water sports were on display. I gave Bella a squeeze around her waist and dropped a kiss on top of her head before I went to follow Leah.

I still listened into Bella's conversation with Mike Newton, however.

He started speaking as soon as I was out of sight. "Hey, Bella. Hey, how are you doing? In here for some camping equipment?"

"Um, no. They're getting some stuff for surfing, but I thought maybe I'd get something for my dad. His birthday is coming up. Um, could you help me pick out something? I was thinking maybe some fishing lures or something, but I don't really know what I'm looking at."

I was really tempted to come out of Bella's head to hear what the young master Newton was thinking, but I decided not to do so. I decided I didn't want to know.

Leah started looking at the few boards that they had in stock, describing to me the differences and what other equipment we would need - including something for the roof of my car that would actually hold the boards.

"Sure, Bella," Mike was saying, and I could hear the two of them moving over to the fishing section. "So, you and Edward, huh? I mean, you're pretty serious about him, huh?"

_Oh dear, here we go,_ Bella thought.

He did get like this sometimes, I had to agree.

"Yes. We're in love. We'll probably get married at some point."

Leah started cracking up at this point. Apparently she was also listening in. I swatted her, not bothering to check my strength like I would with Bella. "Shut up," I mouthed to her.

_Fucking vampire! _ "Ouch," she said plainly, rubbing her stomach. She was grinning, though.

Oh yes, we are making serious progress in the Leah Department.

"Oh," Mike said, sounding as if I had hit him instead of Leah. I met her eyes and we both rolled ours at the same time. "Well, I believe you and all, but I'd be careful. You know the divorce rate is up above fifty percent these days."

What an asshole. Had he forgotten that her _parents _were divorced?

When Leah started growling softly, I put one hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Leah," I said softly to her, only to have her growl louder. "He's just jealous, but I've got him beat on the cunnilingus front, so everything will be fine," I said, completely deadpan.

And it worked, because suddenly Leah was laughing, trying not to laugh, and looking at me incredulously all as I simply grinned at her, redirecting her to the rack of wetsuits. As Leah picked out one for herself and a few that might work for me, I continued to look at the surf boards, listening to the exchange on the other side of the store.

"Oh. Well, yes. I was aware of that actually," Bella replied to Mike's somewhat callous remark. "But, um... I'm pretty content with Edward. I couldn't ask for a better guy, so I think we'll be okay. So, um, those? Or that fuzzy orange and white one over there?"

I listened as she picked out five intricate lures and I was inordinately pleased that she hadn't asked me for permission to spend the money, first. Meanwhile I was wondering if a decent retirement plan was too much to give Charlie for his birthday. Not that I wanted him to retire, but whenever it was that _he_ wanted it, I wanted him to be able to do so in comfort. In Barbados, if he liked.

I decided that it was all in the presentation. This birthday might not be the best time, but it would happen soon.

In the meantime, I think that an engine upgrade for his fishing boat would be appropriate, but that would be a shopping trip best taken with Bella's truck or Emmett's jeep.

I looked through the wetsuits that Leah and put aside for me and chose one that would be likely to fit, depending on how the closely the manufacturer adhered to the industry standards of measuring.

"Let's go rescue Bella, first," I muttered.

_Yea, someone's got to zip me up, and it sure as shootin' isn't going to be you. You're way too pretty for your own good._

I snorted, and not for the first time wondered what Sebastian was going to look like.

"Patience, grasshopper," is what I did say quietly as we made our way to the front where Bella was. "Your time will come. Your Prince Charming exists," I said. Or, he soon will.

Leah snorted. _Prince Charming? I'll settle for Mr. Right. Or even Mr. Occasionally Cool. Hell, Mr. Somewhat Okay would be fine at this point._

I grinned. "Prince Charming," I confirmed. "He couldn't be anything less," I said with a grin that confused her.

_I hate that everyone knows but me._

I shrugged. She could change that whenever she wanted to, and she knew it. Still, if it made her feel better to grouse a little, far be it from me to hold her back.

Bella showed us her choices and Mike took them to the register for us. I tucked Bella into my side as we moved toward the changing rooms. "I'm going to need help zipping up my wetsuit," I said quietly, with only the tiniest grin.

_Oh God. I bet you look really good in a wetsuit. I happen to know you look really good wet. I bet you look really, really good wet, in a wetsuit._

_I'm so going to enjoy this whole surfing as a spectator sport thing, _Bella thought.

I grinned. "In fact, I might need help getting my jeans off. They seem strangely tight."

"God," Leah groused softly as we reached the changing rooms. "You guys are like rabbits. Just make sure you're done in time to zip me up, Bella, okay? Don't leave me high and dry over here."

_We should be good,_ Bella thought.

I nodded, my smile changing from mischievous to a softer, kinder sentiment. I think I really only said it to tease Leah. For some reason she seemed to be taken with Bella, and to some extent me, and to a larger extent our relationship. When her thoughts dwelt on us, or our relationship she simply seemed calmer. She seemed calmer in our company.

I would have to discuss this with Rosalie. I wondered if there was anything in it. Strictly speaking the sperm that would one day be my children weren't actually in existence yet, but their potential lived in me. But certainly with Bella, the eggs that would one day be our children already existed, full and complete, if not yet mature. And their potential was in our relationship with one another.

I wondered if, in some strange way... i wondered if Leah was already imprinted. Or, perhaps it was a process when dealing with unborn children? Tribal lore was silent on this point.

Or perhaps it was as simple as friendship in the face of loneliness. Either way, and even if for some strange reason tragedy struck and Bella and I had no son before she was changed, Leah... Leah would always have a place in our family and space in my heart. Maybe not as a daughter, maybe as a sister or simply a friend, but she was in, now. No amount of imprinting or lack thereof was going to change that status.

***

School was largely monotonous, but no longer unbearable. I had Bella with me by my side throughout all of my classes. This year would have had Alice with us as well, but Alice was doing her senior year in a previously unheard of exchange program in Mexico... or so everyone thought. She was really hunting in Brazil with Jasper for someone who might have survived as the hybrid offspring of a human and a vampire. She has a theory on how to find them, but she refused to explain it to anyone. I tried to look into her head, but by the time I'd decided to do so it was largely incomprehensible. I know she's looking for 'holes' but I don't fully understand what that means. But Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper had graduated last year, so it was just Bella and me.

This made lunch very interesting, at first.

Soon enough, however, Angela Webber, one of the school's truly kind and compassionate people, invited us to come and lunch with her and some of her friends. Bella readily accepted. I treated it like a scientific experiment. It was interesting.

I always sat with an arm around Bella's waist. Sometimes, I sat angled on the bench such that Bella sat in between my legs and could lean back on my chest if she so desired. This caused a bit of comment at first, but it quickly became the standard.

I slipped in and out of Bella's head at lunch, taking a random sampling of thoughts now and then. I needed to - it was still my job to observe the community we found ourselves in to make sure that we were blending well enough, and that no one suspected just how different we really were.

Today when I slipped out of her head I really didn't like what I found.

_I heard he's cheating on her. Who would have thought it? Edward Cullen._ This from a freshman.

_Oh my gosh, he's cheating on her? I bet he only wants her for sex. I bet they're totally having sex, and he's just using her. That's what Mom says boys do. I bet he's doing that. _This from a sophomore.

Our own table was rife with it.

_Stupid little slut. I bet she has no idea at all he's boffing that girl from the Rez. Serves her right for being so smug. God, I hate Bella Swan._ This, from Jessica Stanley.

And from Lauren. And from Tyler. And from Eric.

_Mike is such an ass. Why does he have to spread stuff like this around? Even if it is true, it's none of his business. That is between Edward and Bella. Now everyone in school thinks Cullen's plowing it somewhere else. That's so uncool. _This from Ben. I officially liked Ben.

_Mike, Mike, Mike... I'm sure... I'm sure he's wrong. That's just too awful. All he saw was Edward talking with some girl in his parent's shop. That doesn't really mean that Edward is cheating on Bella. I really don't think that Edward would do something like that. He seems to really, really care for Bella. _This from Angela.

And from Mike: pictures, memories, skewed recollections of yesterday's shopping trip. Bella choosing lures, but Bella was flirting with him. Bella hadn't been, of course, but that seemed to be how Mike Newton remembered it. Humans were like that. They perceived what they wanted to, remembered how they wanted to, sometimes with very little bearing on reality. He remembered me being very physically cozy with Leah, wrapping my arm around her, leaning into her as he peeked down an aisle at us, as we were at the register. He thought that we had made out in the changing rooms - well, 'we' had, but it had been Bella and me...

I sighed. This sort of shit happened more often than I could say, but it had never before happened with Bella. I didn't want to upset her, but I needed to let her know what was happening.

I sunk into her mind briefly, rubbing at the back of her neck to let her know.

_Oh, hello, baby, _she cooed at me.

I couldn't help but to smile a bit. I leaned down and nuzzled her hair, bringing my lips very close to her ear so I could whisper into it. We had our privacy as I began to relate the short version of what seemed to be occurring.

"Mike drew some interesting conclusions from seeing us yesterday. He thinks I'm having an incestuous affair with my somewhat troubled daughter-in-law, he hopes this means you'll be single and available soon, and he's apparently made some effort to discredit me in school. Even the freshmen think I've been cheating on you."

Bella burst out laughing, throwing her head back such that my lips were at her throat and her head back on my shoulder as she continued to crow with laughter. She was so beautiful. The sound was beautiful. And she smelled so lovely I couldn't help but to press tiny kisses to the long expanse of throat, even as it vibrated with her laughter.

_Seriously??_ she asked. _That's too rich! Oh please, please let me handle this._

"As you like, love," I said, the smile clearly heard through my words. I came out of her head again, scratching the back of her neck to let her know. I had to observe this.

Ooo, the cafeteria thought it was tragically ironic that I could be so loving with Bella and make her laugh, even as I slowly tore her heart to shreds. Yes, yes, whatever.

I watched as Bella picked up a baby carrot and looked at it with great contemplation.

_**Think I can hit his forehead with this?**_ she thought very loudly and clearly.

"Probably not," I murmured with a wry grin. Bella probably couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with a projectile, if she was trying to. I was willing to work on her with this issue, but she said she didn't care, so neither did I.

She tried, but ended up doing one better. Instead of hitting his forehead, the carrot fell short and plunked in his soup, splashing a small portion of it up and onto his shirt.

"Hey! What the...!" Mike called out, not knowing where the carrot had come from. Some of the table had, though, and they watched with rapt attention.

"That, Michael Newton," spoke Bella, "is for telling lies about Edward and my friend, Leah."

"What? I didn't say anything!" Mike protested. Tables around us fell silent.

"I try to be a nice person," Bella said quietly, clearly, looking at Mike at the other end of the table. "But I'm not. Really I'm just a quiet person. But if this is what happens when I'm quiet, then maybe it's time for me to speak." I wrapped my arms around Bella, showing my support.

"You are full of shit, Mike Newton. I don't know what you hoped to gain by spreading this ugly rumor. Did you hope to find out just how intimate Edward and I are? Because that's none of your business. Did you hope to break us up so you could date one of us?" Bella looked back at me and directed her words to me, but she spoke loudly. More tables fell silent around us. "You're much prettier than me, Edward. Maybe he has a crush on _you_."

Mike spluttered at this perceived slight to his manhood, but Bella continued on, looking at him once more.

"Did you simply want to sling mud for the hell of it, just because you could? Just because you actually saw me and Edward hanging out with someone you couldn't recognize? Well, get used to it. We have a lot of friends and very few of them go to this school." Bella reached out and touched Angela's shoulder briefly, smiling at her just for a moment before continuing on. "That shit may fly here, Mike, but just be careful. You try that out in the world, after you graduate and there's more at risk to you than a difficult conversation over lunch.

"Be happy that Edward found your accusation amusing rather than offensive. You won't be spending the night in the ER being patched up by his father.

"Be happy that I prefer a diplomatic solution as opposed to running and telling _my_ father - who _loves_ Edward, by the way - what you've said.

"Be happy that _Leah_ doesn't know. She's mean, she's strong, and she's a raging bitch most of the time. If she didn't run you over on her motorcycle, she'd probably beat the hell out of you. She doesn't have the best impulse control just yet.

"Be happy that spreading this rumor hasn't cost you your job, or your friends, or the respect of your family. You may have been pretty successful spreading it around this time, but if I were you I'd call it quits now and save yourself the trouble for the future."

Here Bella ended, and there was utter silence in the very large room. Ah, dinner theatre.

Finally, I broke the silence.

"I think you owe us an apology," I said simply.

Mike was already somewhat flushed, but he turned absolutely red at that point. He was flipping through memories. He really _had_ thought Bella was flirting with him. He really _had_ thought Leah and I looked romantically cozy. He really _had_ thought that we'd tried on wetsuits together and had gotten up to something. But now, happily, he was beginning to doubt himself. What if he'd gotten it wrong? He didn't think he had, but what if he did? Could he have been wrong? If he had been wrong, then...

And it hit him pretty squarely in the head.

All the things he'd said, how he'd embellished just a bit - okay, a lot - to say that he _knew_ I'd fucked the Indian Girl, how he'd _seen us around before_, how he'd _caught us _in the changing room... all little white lies in service to what he had thought was true, but now if it wasn't... Those white lies condemned him, and he knew it. And they weren't so very white anymore.

"I'm... I guess I thought... I must have misunder-... Uh, I'm, uh, I'm sorry."

"We forgive you," Bella said.

"Speak for yourself," I murmured to her.

"Okay, scratch that," she said again. "I forgive you. Edward can handle his own forgiveness."

I looked up, but Mike Newton wasn't looking at me. He was looking at his soup.

"Like Bella," I started, "I am a quiet person, not a nice person, though the two are often confused for one another. But I will say this: I can forgive you for being a silly boy who saw what he wanted to see. I can forgive you for being vicious in getting what you want. I have been both of those things. I understand. I cannot forgive your words, which have gone out into this world and are now held by other people, away from your influence, which is like the storm against a closed window; you have no effect to change them now, and you cannot take them back. I will not forgive your words which were not even slightly truthful, and which meant to hurt. I cannot forgive your words, as they blaspheme something beautiful and good.

"Be careful with your words, Mike. Today I find you amusing, and sad, but I wouldn't try to hurt you because that would be deeply unfair to you. But tomorrow you may come across someone you offend with your words and they might not feel the way I feel."

I wasn't trying to threaten him, even though I knew that's how he took it, the moment the words were out of my mouth - ah, the power of words. I was trying to say without saying that it would be unconscionable of me, as a vampire, to pick on this little seventeen year old boy for lashing out as seventeen year olds do. But that one day an actual peer might very well beat the snot out of him for the very same infraction.

I would never attempt it, because I knew I couldn't pull my punches enough. I didn't know the first thing about fighting humans in a manner that would leave them alive at the end of it.

Still. After lunch Bella and I mutually agreed that Leah shouldn't know about this. She was still a cub and quite volatile, after all. Perhaps after Sebastian was born, we could all laugh about it.

Perhaps.

***

**End Note:** So. What do you think? We started with a three-paged lemon, and then progressed on to Edward & Bella bonding with Leah, then more bonding with Leah, then another installment of Forks High Dinner Theatre, with a brief stop-over at Bella & Edward dealing with interpersonal tension. Thoughts? Insights? Rotten Tomatoes? Chocolate covered Edwards? (Or if your tastes run that way, ladies and gentlemen, Chocolate/blood covered Bellas? [no bellas were harmed in the covering of them with blood, mind... think venison...])


	32. Emotional Fragility in the Cullen Clan

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

***

**Book Two:** One More Year 'Til Forever  
**Chapter 9: ** Emotional Fragility in the Cullen Clan  
**Beta:** Colleen P, who lends proper perspective by laughing at the scenes that make me cry as I write them, rolling her eyes and saying 'Oh, for fuck's sake!'

**Author's Note: **In a review, one reader called me the Magic Eraser of Angst. But, you know, I wasn't always that way. I can be angsty. I promise you, I can be angsty... But on another note, I'm posting this chapter early because I want you all to **go vote for DESS in The Mystic Awards.** DESS is nominated in three categories: The Sexiest, Mrs. Perfect (for Bella's characterization), and The Golden Onion (for the AU that is good enough to replace canon...) So please go vote for DESS, huh? www. themysticawards. webs. com

***

It was getting easier to be mostly in Bella's head and yet hear one other person. It was taking less focus and concentration to do it.

"Do we know if it's cool for us to be out here yet? I mean, has Jacob told the Tribal Elders about the rewritten treaty?"

I shrugged. I had no idea, but I did know that Jacob knew Leah was going to teach me to surf. I knew that the pack itself had accepted the Alpha's decision. The rest bothered me less.

"Edward!" Bella chastised. She had counted on me knowing. She had counted on my actions being already based in knowing that it was acceptable to all parties. "The guys in the pack have _parents _Edward!" She smacked my arm and only hurt her hand.

I picked her hand up as we drove and made sure it was alright. I kissed her hand and she sighed.

"It's not a big deal, Bell," Leah murmured from the back seat, but she didn't mean it. She only meant to pacify Bella. She didn't want to see her upset.

"_Parents are important!"_ Bella ground out forcefully.

"I know parents are important, Bella," I said. "But these particular set of parents aren't likely to be happy or accepting about this any time soon. I don't mind if Jacob takes his time telling the Council."

"But they could find out! It's common knowledge among the tribe that you aren't allowed on the land, and maybe they don't know you by sight, but a bunch of them know me, and they'll be able to guess you by association! You don't have to be a member of the Council or the Pack to know this, and then go telling! Then it's going to be even more awkward. We could be undermining Jacob's authority in the Council! It's not easy for him as it is, and here we are making it worse. Stop the car, Edward," she said harshly.

I was annoyed, but I did as she said.

Bella got out her phone and scrolled through her list of contacts until she found his cell number. _Answer, Jacob! Answer your phone!_

"_Bells, yo, what's up chickadee?"_

"Jacob, have you told the Council about the Treaty?" she asked bluntly.

"_Nope," _he answered.

"Did you _**know**_ that we were headed to First Beach today so Leah and Edward could surf?"

"_Yup," _he said.

"_**Are you an IDIOT?"**_ Bella yelled into her phone. "_God, Jacob!"_ She looked at me. "Turn the car around. We can't do this today. We can't go to the beach until," and at this point she spoke both into the phone and to me, "Jacob carefully and skillfully prepares as many of the members of the Council he can before he goes in front of all them and shows them the new treaty."

I heard Leah sigh from the back seat. She thought we were fighting - which I suppose if you stretched it you could say that - and she was having flashbacks of her parents fighting. It didn't seem pleasant for her or her younger brother. I wanted to say something to comfort her, but I had other priorities just now.

I was of two minds. I really fucking wanted to surf, and much more than that, I wanted to hang out on the beach with my two favorite girls: the love of my life and my daughter-in-law. Even as I realized that I was somewhat shocked. Leah was very quickly becoming very important in my life.

And yet even for my petulance, I was also quickly beginning to see Bella's point. Yet again I missed a subtle political nuance that seemed so obvious to her, and once she pointed it out, was equally as obvious to me. Instead of wallowing in my own shortcomings, I decided to wallow in Bella's strengths.

Damn she was good at this.

"Look, where are you, Jake?"

"_Hanging out at Sam & Emily's house. Emy's making pancakes. Most of the pack is here."_ By this I understood him to mean everyone but Leah.

"Hold on," Bella said to him, then searched for and duly hit the mute key. "Seriously, Edward, we need to head back." We were still on the side of the road, half way to the reservation. She turned to look at Leah. "I need to ask you something, and I need you to be totally honest. And whatever your answer, it's totally okay, okay?"

I heard Leah's nod, but I also heard her start freaking out in her head. She thought we were going to give her an ultimatum that would in the end, find her homeless and friendless. I wish I could have... I don't know, held her hand, or something. I wish she didn't have to feel like every time something happened it was going to end badly for her.

"I really need to talk to Jacob, and I was thinking of going back to Charlie's house. Edward could make us all second breakfast, and we could work on some strategy to help Jacob do this. It isn't really fair to assume he'd be good at it just because he inherited the job. But I'd... I'd really like to ask Sam to be there, too. Only, I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

I heard Leah's breath sharpen as she looked out the window. Bella's words picked up their pace, at that. She tried to soothe the girl.

"But no, listen, you're important to me, Leah. And I don't want you to be in a five mile radius of him, if you don't want to. If you want, we can drive you back. It's not a problem..."

I knew which way Leah would choose, and I wasn't surprised when forty-five minutes later I had to pull her bodily out of Charlie Swan's living room from where he, his daughter, and the alpha and second of the pack were trying to figure out who might be the easiest to talk to on the Council. Bella had gotten out paper and pen and started making a chart, listing every adult in the tribe that they could name on a gradient of how sympathetic they might be and how connected they were to people on the Council, and who had the best opportunity to speak to each person.

"We're going for a run, love," I called out to Bella as I pulled Leah out the back door. We walked to the woods, me walking, Leah stomping until we were well within the trees in the back. "Shift," I said, turning my back and bringing out my cell phone.

I dialed Carlisle's number and didn't have to wait long at all for him to answer it.

"There's a very interesting conversation going on at Charlie Swan's house right now to which you might want to be a party," I said.

"Oh? I was just out with Esme, but we can come back."

"She would be welcome," I said before hanging up.

_I'm done. I even folded my clothes. Sorta._

I scooped them up in one hand before looking at her.

"Now, let's see how fast you can really run," I said, grinning my challenge at her. She was off like a shot and I followed, catching up to her and running beside her as we weaved through the trees, sometimes near enough to touch, sometimes not.

We ran for an hour before weaving back close to the Cullen house. We were close, but far enough away to have some privacy. We stopped outside a ruined cabin.

_Can I get my clothes back?_

I set her clothes down and turned around, waiting for her to shift and dress.

_Yeah, okay. I'm decent._

I turned around to see her sitting on the ground, her back against some of the stone rubble, her hands playing with one of her flip flops. I hesitated only a fraction of a second before sitting down right next to her.

Her mind was a tangle and it wasn't long before she was crying. She was stiff, sitting next to me, trying to sniff her tears away, but when I put my arm around her it was only the space of six heart beats before her body seemed to melt. She turned toward me, her knees up near her chest, practically in fetal position and I held her as she cried into my shirt.

_It just hurts so much, hurts so much, hurts so much. Edward, I can't stand it. How can one person hurt so much?_

Her thoughts were repetitive and circular as she cried hysterically on my shoulder, but I was fairly certain that this was better than her covering her hurt with rage. Since she wasn't anywhere near the suicidal place she'd once been, I just let her cry it out.

When she began to quiet, I started to speak.

"It wasn't like this, for me. By 1935, everyone in the family was mated but me. Alice and Jasper joined us later, in the 50's, but they'd already found one another. For the last seventy-five years I've waited, and each day that would go by after about 1953, I think, I sank a little farther and a little farther into depression and denial.

"Did you know that Esme actually believed I'd been changed too young? She thought I would be perpetually alone and she was heartbroken on my behalf."

Leah expressed her soundless incredulity without raising her head from my shoulder. _You? But you and Bella, it's like you've always loved each other. You two... I mean, that's what I want. I don't even want Sam anymore. I'm just pissed that he's got his and I can't even be in the same room with him, that I can't shift when he's shifted._

I squeezed her gently. "I didn't realize until I'd met Bella, but I had become so cynical and... depressed," I said softly, admitting what I couldn't to my family, even though they knew. "Bella has no idea how much her love, her presence in my life has changed me, helped me. She pulled me out of the mire in a way that my family, for all of their care, could not."

_She loves you so much. I can tell. She might not know, but she couldn't love you anymore than she already does. She'll never leave you._

I took a deep breath in and acknowledged to myself that Leah has some serious abandonment issues. Bella and I - and Rosalie and Emmett, for that matter - would need to tread carefully. For all of her rage and violence, Leah was sensitive and needed to be treated with care, and love.

"I don't know what it's like for you, but I do know that Bella's presence in my life cannot be compared to anything else I've ever experienced. Perhaps it will be the same way for you. But I have no doubt that when the time comes you will be for him exactly what he will be for you: healing, love, peace, life, and light. You'll be the light in his life, Leah, and he'll be the joy in yours."

"Who is he?" she asked in a shaky, breathy, quiet voice. "I wanna know."

"His name is Sebastian," I murmured quietly against her cropped skull.

"I don't know a Sebastian," she said, her reply more of a whine than anything else. She was crying again.

"No, you haven't met yet. He hasn't been born, yet."

_He WHAT?_ And with that Leah started crying in earnest again. _He doesn't even exist yet? I'm going to have to wait for, like, twenty years!_

I cradled the back of her head with my hand and stroked her ridiculously short hair. The tribe really heaped insult to injury with this haircut. Surely they could have done something not quite as drastic? I'd seen images of her from before in Sam's mind. She'd had beautiful, long black hair.

"I know," was all I could say.

_Oh my __**god!**__ Does this mean I'm going to be some sort of sick pedophile? No! Not for anybody!_

Again her thoughts were repetitive and circular.

"We wouldn't allow it, Leah. We would help you. We won't abandon you."

It took longer for her to quiet this time.

"Who is he? Who are his parents? Do you know?"

In for a penny, in for a pound. That statement never made sense to me until Carlisle pointed out that it was based in the British system of currency.

"Sometime next year," I said very quietly, holding her gently, "Bella and I are going to have twins. Elisabeth Marie and Charles Sebastian."

Leah's gasp was quite audible. And then she stopped breathing. Her thoughts stopped utterly for a moment before they raced.

All the stories she'd ever heard about how the Cullens were just this side of evil.

Her brother.

Her parents fighting and not making up. Bella and I fighting in the car earlier, but making up afterwards; I had admitted my error and Bella her lack of foresight. We shared a kiss before I turned the car around. I held her hand all the way back to Charlie's house.

Sam cradling her and calling her sweet nicknames, telling her he loved her, would love her forever.

Jail. A prison cell from a cop movie. A hard bed and a communal toilet. Skin itching forever.

The hatred and scorn of her family, her brother, the pack, Rosalie, Bella, me.

The shame.

I rocked her slowly, pulling her curled up form onto my lap as I did so.

"No, Leah, no. We won't. It won't happen that way. We won't let it. I promise. It's hard now, I know, but it will be okay. It will."

I wondered idly if it would have been better coming from Rosalie, or perhaps at least with Bella here with me, but then I really thought about that. Leah might have tried to keep a strong front if Bella were here. I couldn't predict it, of course, but it was absolutely possible. And Leah needed to be in touch with her emotions if she was going to get through this intact. For reasons that I couldn't quite fathom, Leah didn't find me threatening. If I could provide this for her, all the better.

"None of that. None of that will happen. You'll be there when he's born. You'll be in the room with us. You will," I said softly, confirming it for her as I continued to rock her trembling body. Her sobs had stopped, but she was still crying. "Alice has seen it. I've seen it. When he and Elisabeth are born, you and Jacob are both there."

_Why would he be there?_

I ignored her question and continued on. "And I don't know how much later, but there was another vision. The twins as adults. You and your Ducati, and Sebastian. You let him drive. Bella and I were behind in the Vanquish, and we were all on the highway, going east. All of us. All twelve of us. And you were wearing your new leather jacket, only it wasn't new anymore. Your arms were around him. We didn't see his face, he was wearing a helmet, but he had my build. We heard him speak."

"What did he say?" Leah croaked out.

I grinned, remembering his words exactly. "He was a smart ass. But he was asking his mother to arrange for the convoy to pause so that the 'lesser mortals' could eat and stretch, and so I imagine, use the restroom, though he wasn't explicit." I thought about the vision a bit more. "You had your own little language of non-verbal signals with him, just like Bella and I do, just like every other couple in our family does. I don't know what it meant, but before he spoke you got his attention, and he reached back behind him, over his shoulder, and touched the exposed skin at your neck."

"Maybe I don't imprint. Maybe we're just friends. I mean, there's no vision of me saying, 'Edward, I've imprinted on your son, Sebastian,' is there?"

"No," I conceded. And really, she had a point I'd never considered.

_Oh, god. Are you only being nice to me because you think I'm going to be your daughter-in-law one day?_

I hugged her close. "No, Leah. I admit that in the beginning, after I dealt with my own issues at the thought of my future children getting married themselves, after _that_ I was intrigued with you because you were destined to be with Sebastian. I was certainly invested in your healing. But you know, I just like you. You're a good person, and you're interesting, and you're going to teach me to surf."

Leah snorted at this, but didn't move her head from my shoulder.

"Seriously, Leah. I've never before considered that you might _not_ be Sebastian's mate, but you know, it doesn't matter to me anymore. You're a part of this family for as long as you want to be, regardless of capacity. I'm as content for you to be my newest sister as much as I am for you to be my daughter-in-law. Honestly."

"I... I want to be in your family. I'll miss Seth, but I can't take my parents. And I can't take the tribe. And I really, really can't take the pack. Jake's fine, but I just..." She started crying again. "I'd rather die, Edward."

Cullen, Masen, Platt, Hale, McCarty, Whitlock, Brandon, Swan... Clearwater.

"I tried today, I swear I tried, _I tried so hard and I couldn't do it."_

I just held her and rocked her.

"We won't ask you to do that ever again, Leah. I promise you we won't. And it's always okay to tell us what you need. I can read your mind, but that doesn't mean I know what is best for you."

Leah put her arms around me for the first time since I'd pulled her into my lap forty minutes ago.

_Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you._

"Welcome to the family, little sister."

Her arms felt good in their tight embrace of me in a way I'd never experienced. It wasn't remotely sexual, and yet I had never felt this needed, this depended upon by anyone in my family before Bella. It was comfortable in that it was comforting. I was giving comfort, and somehow I was receiving it as well.

_Feels less itchy,_ she thought, and the randomness of the thought made her laugh.

I made a mental note to ask Carlisle about the crest. Leah would need one that she could shift while wearing.

***

The next day was Friday, and it was a Camping Weekend Friday. Leah went with the family, though not before we both had a quiet discussion with Rosalie and Carlisle. I think if she'd been capable of it, Rosalie might have cried. There was very nearly a group hug. I wasn't around when the rest of the family found out, but then Leah needed her own bonding time separate from me with the family. She needed to forge her own ground.

And I really needed to be with Bella.

God Bless Charlie for letting her off one Friday a month to 'go camping early'.

"Oh, fuck," I growled as Bella sucked my cock as I lay against the purple pillows on our very small bed in Charlie's house. Bella had figured out how to draw out any blow job she gave me so that her jaw didn't get too tired too early. She alternated her technique.

And what technique it was.

I don't know where the fuck she was getting this shit but I was _not_ complaining. And when she swallowed my _entire_ cock, my length part way down her open throat and I felt her teeth at my base?

Oh holy fuck, is all I've got to say.

_Where is my growling, dirty, dirty Edward? Where's my husband? Could it be that his mind has wandered? Could it be that that powerful, multi-tasking vampire mind of his is off planning something else, and not concentrating where it ought to be, namely my mouth and his cock?_

"Ah, God, no baby, I could never do that," I said in a rush, fast but still slow enough for her to be able to process it.

"Such a sweet mouth," I cooed only a moment later, my voice thick and rough with the shock of need that had my entire body on overload. "Such a fucking sweet mouth."

I growled and groaned and babbled my nearly mind-numbing pleasure for the next twenty minutes before Bella put an end to it.

_You need to come and I'm fairly certain my pussy needs some lovin', so why don't we warm up that cock even more? _She slipped her mouth off the head at that point and started to crawl up my body.

"Did I hear something about your pussy needing love?" I growled at her as she dragged the hardened tips of her breasts over my abdomen and chest.

She smiled at me. _A special kind of love._

I raised one eyebrow and waited for her to elaborate.

_The long, thick, hard kind of love. The Edward's Cock in Bella's Pussy kind of love. Swiftly followed by the Blood on Tongue kind of love. And the Oh Fuck Bella, Yes, Yes, Right There, Right There, Just Like That, Squeeze Me Harder, Oh Fuck I'm Coming kind of love. Not missing, of course, the Edward, Edward, Oh Yes Yes, Fuck Me Harder, Fuck Me Harder, Fuck Me Harder, Yes Baby Oh, Oh Oh kind of love__._

I grinned unrepentantly and pulled her astride me, impaling her swiftly in one motion, as if I had been doing it for years. I then twisted us around until Bella was beneath me on this ridiculously small twin bed of ours. I had my right arm propped on the bed beneath her, palm up and cupping her shoulder from the back, bracing her gently against my pending thrusts. I had my other hand flat between us, fingertip already circling the little bundle of nerves that drove her insane.

The bed squeaked and banged against the wall, but there was no one around to hear it, but us.

Bella came moaning and mewling, her lack of verbosity uncharacteristic but no less beautiful for the difference. She rubbed her face into my neck and shoulder after her body relaxed again, and I craned my neck down to reach a patch of her skin to let my tongue lick and my teeth graze. She cradled me solidly as my body shook and trembled with my release, jerking spasmodically into her.

_Hmm... Edward,_ she sighed. _What are you going to make me for breakfast, hmm?_

I smiled and leaned back far enough to kiss her nose. "What would you like for breakfast, love?"

_Eggs. And bacon. And toast. And orange juice. I think I need the protein. And the carbs._

I agreed whole heartedly. Sex really was the only exercise Bella ever got, but with the amount she was getting, it did count quite significantly under the aerobic category. Also, her flexibility had increased...

Breakfast. Yes. Right. Breakfast for Bella.

***

_What does your family --_ at this distinction I glared at her and my look took her aback, but after a moment she understood the point I was trying to make. Once she did, I continued cleaning the frying pan I had used to prepare her breakfast. _Okay, right. Sorry. Our family. What does __**our**__ family do for Halloween? If anything? I mean, it's not like you're on a main drag, or anything. _Bella was picturing a house in the desert, a single story ranch house on a suburban street. There were strange, goulish decorations on the porch - garish, really. A Bella Lugosi style vampire was rising out of a coffin in the front yard and there was an Egyptian mummy on the porch. There was an artificial soundtrack playing of doors creaking, old women cackling, wolves howling and people screaming in terror and pain. Renee was dressed up as a baseball player and Bella was a bat-girl. They were handing out candy to small children all dressed up, holding pillow cases and plastic pails designed to look like an unilluminated jack-o-lantern.

No one in their right mind had ever come to the Cullen house to trick-or-treat. No one insane showed up either, so that was a grand tally of zero.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" she asked, mumbling in confusion around her bacon.

I shook my head and looked back at her, one eyebrow raised.

"Right. Well," she started, but then switched to her inner voice. _Do kids dress up that day in school?_

I quickly searched my memory. They did do that at this school. It was encouraged, even. I nodded.

_So what did you go as last year?_

I snorted and rolled my eyes, but she couldn't see me. It was just as well. "I went as a bored seventeen year old human, Bella. It was an exceedingly convincing costume."

She threw a piece of egg at the back of my head.

I ducked and it landed neatly in the sink. I was very impressed. If I hadn't moved, it would have landed squarely where she meant it to. Bella was clearly capable of more in gym class that I gave her credit for.

"So what are you going as this year?" Her voice was full of challenge. I could hear her tapping a piece of bacon against the edge of her plate.

"I'm open to suggestion of course," I said, hedging my bet. "But I had planned on going as an eighteen year old human in love."

_You better not be faking the 'in love' part, buddy._

I grinned. "What are you going as?"

_I don't know. I figured I'd take my inspiration from you. I suppose it would be a really bad idea for your cover to go as a vampire, huh?_

"Really bad idea, yes."

_There aren't really any other monsters that are sexy enough for you, though. Hmm. An incubus, maybe._ Here she imagined me walking around in a pair of black leather pants, combat boots and an open black leather vest with a 'Hello My Name Is' name tag on the vest. On it was written with a black sharpie 'INCUBUS'. I noticed that I was wearing my crest on my left wrist, her signet ring and my wedding ring on a long platinum chain that was clearly visible on my chest. I was also wearing my Adonis Belt on the outside of my pants.

As much as she enjoyed the idea of me dressed like that, and from the amount of time she lingered over the details of it, I could tell that she enjoyed it quite a bit, she banished it more or less quickly, not wanting anyone else to see me like that. I filed the image away for use in the bedroom. If Bella liked the idea of an incubus disturbing her sleep, I could arrange for that.

Then she imagined me simply dressed as Adonis. Then an angel. Inevitably in all of these musings I was shirtless which I was fairly certain wouldn't go over well at Forks High School.

_If you wore a tuxedo you could be anyone from James Bond to Prince Charming._

I raised one eyebrow, turned around and leaned against the sink, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "If I'm wearing a tux, will you be in similar evening wear?" I asked, knowing how much she loathed dressing up.

"Maybe," she said defensively, around a piece of bacon.

"So what would that make you, then? Cinderella? Snow White? Would 'Beauty' from Beauty and the Beast be too obvious a connection for the both of us, Bella, my love?"

She snorted and rolled her eyes. I was at her side in an instant, kneeling down. _Not beautiful,_ is the thought that I knew was coming. I was alarmingly accurate in that assumption.

"You _are," _I said fiercely. My hand was high on her thigh as I kneeled by her chair.

_Ow!_ She winced and inhaled sharply and l released her immediately.

Oh, shit. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

I gently smoothed my fingertips over the area of her thigh that I had wounded. "Did I break the bone?" I whispered, barely breathing.

In the eternity before her response two and a half seconds later, my mind reeled.

For anything I had done to her, I wanted to endure it ten times myself for my own stupidity. How could I be so stupid as to lose my temper with her? And over something so stupid, so small? Not that her body image was something we couldn't disagree over, but did I have to turn into a fucking neanderthal over it? My God! And to take any disagreement to the point of hurting her? That I hadn't intended to hurt her was moot - if I had I would truly be beyond my own capacity, my own ability to even imagine redemption. But I was infinitely stronger than she, and she was infinitely fragile... and it was inexcusable for me to become even mildly aggressive with her, given our reality.

God, I couldn't even _run_ quickly with her! What the hell was I thinking?

I shouldn't even touch her. If I couldn't resist touching her in violence, then I shouldn't touch her at all.

As if I would have that choice, that option open to me anymore. As if Bella would want me _anywhere_ near her after this. Bella was not stupid.

Oh, God. Bella wasn't stupid. Bella would understand, now, in a way she never really did before. Oh, fuck. What have I done? Bella would know just how violent, how awful I could be. If she didn't utterly reject me after this, which was a distinct possibility - what man hurts the woman he loves? What fool does that? If she didn't absolutely throw me out of her life, despite the pain such a separation would necessarily bring to two bondmates, she would certainly never let me touch her again, not until she was turned, which she might not want, now, now that she knew.

Oh, dear God. I would have to watch Bella grow old. I would have to watch as a disease ravaged her body and her mind. I would have to watch her grow frail and tired. I would have to hold her tired body as she slowly died in my arms. I would have to mark each breath, branding it in my memory as I dared not breathe myself, wondering with each breath if it would be the last that my heart lived on this earth. I would be cradled in her mind until the last moment, the very last when her tired, scattered thoughts simply faded from around me as if they had never truly existed, as if they were nothing more than clouds and dream, the morning dew that can't withstand the heat of the sun.

God, I wished suicide was easier.

I couldn't ask the Quileutes, now. Besides the fact that I wouldn't be able to convince them, Leah was my sister. I couldn't do that to her. I couldn't ask that of her any more than I could ask it of Jasper and Emmett, though they could, physically, do it. I wouldn't lay that on their memories to maintain.

To Italy, then.

My only consolation was that we would never have children. I don't think I could kill myself while I still had children in this world, but neither could I exist without Bella. If I couldn't have the one, it was just as well we never had the others.

The depths to which I had just fucked my life over could not be measured on any scale, and as Bella finally responded, I knew it all too well.

"No. I'm fine." _Fuck, that hurt. Shit, I mean, I'm fine, Edward. I'm fine. It's fine._

She was lying. I looked into her eyes, numb, and I could see it.

Alright. No broken bone. She would need ice. Twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off.

I got up and fetched some, putting it in a plastic bag and wrapping it in a towel. I crouched down next to her for just a moment and savored the closeness that I could never again take for granted as I'm sure I would only infrequently experience it. I gently - so gently, so aware - laid the ice pack against her upper thigh, letting the ice reform over her leg, letting the chill drape over to where my thumb had pressed to hard, to where my fingers had gripped too tightly.

I could have so easily just torn through her skin. My stomach felt sick just thinking of it.

The ice pack was balanced and I released my hold on it, slowly retreating at a human pace to the other side of the kitchen, back by the sink. I stood straight and unmoving as I looked at the ice pack, watched her fingers curl around the outside, holding it secure.

"I am so very sorry for hurting you, Bella," I whispered softly, not trying to make an excuse for my behavior because there was no excuse in the world that could actually excuse it. Even the reasons themselves were utterly pathetic and not worth mentioning. But she needed to know, and I desperately needed to tell her how utterly and completely filled with sorrow I was at hurting her.

Her mind was silent, as it sometimes was, and I wondered what she was keeping from me. I was sure, now, that's what was going on. After all, if Bella shielded me, she could probably shield herself, too.

I couldn't blame her. If I were her, I'd want to shield against me as well.

_No, it's fine._

A single, solitary stream of thought, and then nothing again. Silence. Silence in her beautiful, tranquil mindscape.

Oh God, I did not deserve her. I didn't deserve to be in her mind. I closed my eyes and stopped breathing as I extracted myself from within her, feeling my heart tear as I did so.

And now I would leave.

Perhaps she would speak to me Monday at school.

I turned around and finished the dishes quickly, though I admit I lingered. I didn't do them as fast as I might with supernatural speed. I dried each dish, each piece of flatware before replacing it in its rightful storage location around the kitchen before replacing the towel to dry, draped over the counter.

Still, I did not breathe.

I passed her on my way to the back door but I didn't dare look at her. I could hear her only just barely, so much quieter than normal when she was shielding to much from me. I could just make out my name and so I paused, my fingers wrapped around the door knob, the door half open.

Silence again. Nothing. Nothing from my Bella.

No, not _my _Bella. But still Bella Cullen.

My heart tore further as I wondered if she would still want that.

I was out the door and had it nearly closed when I heard her voice speak.

"Edward... what... stop. Where are you... what... what just happened here? Why are you ignoring me?"

I didn't know how to proceed. I stood exactly where I was, two steps out her back door with the door itself nearly closed when I asked.

"What question do you want me to answer?"

There was silence and I could hear something from her mind, but it was nothing distinguishable. After several moments of utter numbness, it couldn't, after all, get any worse, she spoke aloud again. "What the hell is going on, Edward?" she demanded angrily.

"I don't know," I answered softly.

Silence again.

"Well, would you please get back in here?"

I returned to the kitchen and stood as far away from Bella as I could. I knew I could do any number of things - fold my arms across my chest, lean lazily against the counter top, shove my hands in the pockets of my pants, but I couldn't bring myself to mimic any one of those human gestures. I simply stood, vampire still, arms to my sides, only breathing to speak.

I didn't dare look at her, but I acknowledged when she sighed and told me to wait in the kitchen as she put the ice pack down - she really shouldn't, it hadn't been twenty minutes, yet - and go upstairs to her room briefly, before coming back down.

She laid a stack of notebook paper down before the chair opposite hers and set the pen down on top of the stack with an audible smack.

"I'm sorry it's not your journal," she said softly, and not unkindly. "But we'll have to make do."

I understood what she wanted and I mechanically made my way to the chair even as she passed me in the small kitchen on her way to refill her water glass. As she passed me, her hand brushed over my waist. Such a small gesture, but it almost made me sob audibly.

I was so fucking confused.

I sat down and stared at the paper and pen, not sure if I could do it, this time. Maybe. Maybe if I could burn the paper, afterward.

I closed my eyes, trying to find the strength to do this, only to realize that my strength was drinking her water and unavailable to me at this time. I'd run if I thought it would do any good, if I thought it would bring any relief at all. I would leave, but that would make things worse. Never. I'll never leave her. But I will accept it when she leaves me.

I gripped the pen gently, remembering so clearly how this all started, and uncapped it.

"_I hurt you, Bella, and I understand completely the steps you have already taken to distance yourself from me__, all of which are entirely __understandable under the circumstances. I wished you hadn't felt the need to lie to me__, but__ I also understand that your condition was truly none of my business and that at that point my presence in your mind was nothing but rudeness and intrusion. I see very clearly why you would want to shield yourself from me, and please understand that I will not, henceforth, be in your mind. As it is, I seem not to be able to hear you very clearly at all from without, so your privacy is quite assured. You are the one person, it seems, who is truly safe from my intrusive 'talent'._

"_I do not know what this development will mean for our relationship, if indeed we still have one. Please, please know that I will always behold you with the utmost regard, despite what my actions seem to say on my behalf. If you will allow it, I will continue to love and care for you, even if that must be from afar._

"_It is very clear to me that I have done irreparable damage to the bonds of trust and affection that we shared, and I could not, at present feel any more sorrow or grief at my actions and their repercussions than I do presently. _

"_I understand that you may require time to consider your course of action, and I will understand if, at the end of all things, you simply wish not to see me again. Please know, however, if that is the case that I will be unable to not follow where you go unless you are very clear and explicit with me. I will never leave you, Bella, except that you should tell me to go. Any method of communication is acceptable, so long as the message is crystal clear._

"_Please forgive me for leaving as you read this. I will not have gone far, I can never go far, but neither can I stay to watch the emotions play across your face as I am sure to see the rejection I so deeply fear in my soul. I would ask you to forgive me my cowardice, but that seems too much to ask, now. You have already forgiven me so much and I have already pushed beyond the pale one too many times. I understand that I have run out of forgiveness._

"_I remain, courageous or coward, and at least for the moment,_

"_Your,_

"_Edward_

I capped the pen gently and placed it to the side before I stood from the table. I had not take three steps before I felt pressure - Bella had grabbed the back of my shirt - and her voice.

"Not so fast," came her voice, admirable in its evenness. "Why don't you sit back down?" she asked in a manner that brooked no argument.

I argued anyway. I couldn't. I absolutely couldn't be in the room as she read that letter. I did as she asked, I wrote it. I put what we were both thinking down in black and white. She couldn't possibly ask me to linger as she read it, as she officially tore my heart from my chest, could she?

"I don't think I should," I said quietly, refusing to turn and look at her. The tokens of her affection burned on my body. The swan signet ring on my right ring finger. The wedding band that rested over my solar plexus. The chain around my waist. I didn't want to give any of them up, but especially the signet ring. It seemed, for reasons I didn't immediately comprehend, the truest form of her affection, distilled and poured into platinum.

She refused to relent.

I swallowed my pride and rationalized that even though this moment seemed as if it would, in fact, last forever, it wouldn't. In fact, I no longer had to worry about eternity. I didn't have eternity anymore. I had possibly another eighty years, maximum. A short life, for a vampire - one hundred and eighty-five years. Such a waste, really. I've wasted my life. I've wasted it, and in the end I couldn't live up to my mentor and creator, nor to my mate.

Maybe I wouldn't have to go to Italy. I'd heard that werewolves still existed - real ones, not shifters. If I could find them I could avoid making difficulties for Carlisle with the intricacies of the political world of vampires.

South America. There were probably still some werewolves in South America. I would give myself ten years after Bella died to find them before throwing in the towel and resorting to Italy. Alice might have some leads on that, not that she'd tell me about them, come to think of it. Jasper, though...

Come to think of it, Jasper might just do the deed for me, if I asked. Then again, I don't know if I could ask it of him, even if he might possibly say yes.

Well, I had eighty years to contemplate the perfect way to conjure my own death. I didn't have all the time in the world, but I did have the time necessary for the task. It would be enough.

"Sit down, Edward," Bella said, and the gentleness of her tone tore at my heart. I had come to the point were I thought I could encounter no more pain, but I was wrong. Every moment in Bella's company from this moment on this morning would be an every increasing essay in suffering.

She had pulled the chair out again, further out, further back from the table, farther away from her own chair across from it where her breakfast dishes still lingered, momentarily abandoned. I sat down, my palms flat on my legs for a brief moment before Bella confused me by sitting on my lap. I instantly moved my hands out of her way as she heaped insult onto injury... but no. I had injured her. Whatever she decided to mete out, I would accept. I couldn't torture myself, however, by putting my arms around her, embracing her as if everything was normal, as if she were reading my journal about a minor bump in the road, as if she was holding me in her mind, as if she was still a source of comfort and solace.

No. I wouldn't think of it. I wouldn't need to speak much, if at all, so I wouldn't need to breathe. I wouldn't tease myself by embracing her. I wouldn't bother pretending to be the human I so clearly wasn't. I would just exist here for a moment before she politely asked me to leave, which I would do, gently, quietly, with only a glance, the same as I entered her life.

Would she let me take care of her? I wanted her, above anything else, to be happy. She was so intelligent, she would do so well in politics, and she would need college, and preferably a very good university. Perhaps a law degree. I would give it to her, if only she would let me. I knew her, though. She would resist. Still, I would beg. I had no shame, and nothing left to lose.

Nothing. No, there was nothing left to lose, only degrees to which it was all already lost.

Love, life, light, hope, peace, bliss...

I hope Leah is able to imprint, despite us.

I hope Bella is able to move on, to somehow heal. Carlisle would argue the point, but Bella's shield is strong enough, I would imagine, to protect her from the worst of being permanently separated from her mate, if that's what she chose to do.

I was aware, with complete detachment as if it were an out of body experience that someone else was telling me about, that Bella had linked one arm around my neck and with the other had taken up the two sheafs of paper I had written on.

I heard her breath hitch and I fought to remain detached. I could smell her silent tears. I desperately wanted to embrace her, but I knew ever clearer with each passing moment that I was no longer one who could offer her solace or comfort.

It was painful to write and I'm sure pathetic to read, if not utterly repugnant.

I heard the papers shift, her arms shift as she read the second half.

I broke when she began crying in earnest against my neck. Even if we only had this last moment, I would take it. I wrapped my arms around her in a gentle embrace and both of her arms were flung fiercely around my neck. I could hear my letter being gripped and ripped.

"Don't... you... dare..." she managed to get out between sobs. She took a deep breath and tried again, but she was still sobbing. "...leave... me... don't... you... _dare." _She yelled the last word, broken on a sob, a terrible, harsh sound that was a fit accompaniment to the terribly broken hearts in the room.

I held her, confused, but no longer willing to dare to leave. Many minutes passed in silence as she cried herself into hiccups.

"I wanna go home," she said in between hiccups. "We need to talk - don't you dare ever attempt to leave before we've talked again, Edward Cullen - but I wanna go home, first."

"You are home, Bella," I said gently, daring to disagree with her on only this most obvious of points.

"No," she said with a ferocity that surprised me, given her pathetic hiccup-ridden tone of just a moment before. She leaned back and when I caught her gaze I saw that her eyes were on fire. "No," she said again. "Home is the third-floor room I share with my husband in an old white Victorian in the middle of the forest." She softened after that. "Home is wherever my husband is, and I for one would like to be with him, uninterrupted, for the rest of the weekend. We need to talk, and we need to not start that conversation here. Are you okay to drive?"

I nodded.

"Okay. Go get my bag," she said, standing in front of me, now. "I'll meet you by the truck."

As I stood, though, she caught me by the front of my shirt.

"I love you, Edward, and I swear to you that I'm not badly hurt."

I didn't much move, but she used her new grip around my neck to pull herself up to me. She pressed her lips against mine and I was given the gift of an exquisite kiss. Her breath, her body, her scent, her lips, her tongue, it was all so precious to me, so vital, like blood and beauty and music and hope.

"I promise," she said, whispering against my lips. "I promise. I'm not badly hurt, I promise. And I love you. I love you."

A shattered heart does not quickly mend again, but I could feel the process beginning.

I opened the car door for her, so quickly did I get her bag and return back, locking the front door with the hidden key. She held her jacket in one hand and my letter crushed in the other. I placed her bag in the bed of the truck and walked back around to the driver's side door and slid inside.

Bella's truck, once a monstrosity, was now an aged beauty, a classic restored to and beyond former glory, and the engine purred softly. Still, I didn't push it past seventy as we navigated the roads back to the house.

"Edward, please. Please." Her voice was quiet in the stillness of the cab. "No matter what, even if we're fighting, even if something happens, especially if something happens, you have to stay with me, okay? You have to stay inside my head, okay? That's not permission that is ever going to get revoked. It's not even really permission. It's just... you just... you belong there, okay? And you shouldn't ever leave. I assume you're there, but then you're not, and I think... well... We'll get through the rest. We'll work through the rest, I know we will. But please, please, will you please come back inside... inside, um, my mind?"

The numbness was harder to maintain as I thought about it. She was staring at me.

"Why are you hesitating?" she asked quietly, somehow knowing that I hadn't done as she asked, yet.

Why _was_ I hesitating? Because I was terrified, obviously, but why? I was too afraid to even answer that question to myself.

"I'm afraid of what I'll see," I finally said, surprising myself with the answer, though the moment I uttered it I knew it was true.

"Please?" she simply pleaded. "Please, Edward, for me?"

I felt my only slightly mended heart twist and tear a bit. I would do whatever she asked, in the end, no matter the pain involved. I'd already come to understand that it couldn't last forever. No matter the pain, it would always have a definite end.

I approached her mind with infinite caution, testing it with gentle pressure to see if it would even yield to me, if it was even possible to enter in, or if she was shielding so strongly that it wouldn't be an option. In my cowardice I wished for the latter, but it was not to be. I slipped in, expecting pressure and resistance where there was none, and ended up sliding faster than I anticipated. It felt out of control, _I _felt out of control, but that was part and parcel with Bella's mind. Here I had no control. I could accept what she offered, or I could remove myself. She had specifically asked me here, so I could never do the latter, but the former... I wanted it so badly. And it hurt now, it was a physically painful thing to try to keep myself apart from Bella, even while wrapped deeply in her mind. I was in her mind, but not. I felt nothing. I accepted nothing.

I didn't realize I was grinding my teeth and growling until I heard Bella yelling at me.

"Edward! Knock it off and watch the road!"

Dear God, I had endangered her again.

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have started it in the car," she said calmly.

I was numb for the rest of the drive, trying not to think of anything at all, distracting myself with the mental voices of all the people in the surrounding area that I couldn't help but hear.

Quite automatically, I pulled the truck into the garage outbuilding and took Bella's bag from the back and coming around in time to hold Bella's door open for her. She slid out and I closed the door, expecting her to proceed me, but instead she slipped her free hand into mine. My fingers curled around hers without my permission. I'm not sure how that happened, but I couldn't quite make it unhappen, either.

We slowly made our way to the house, to the second floor, to the third, and finally to our bedroom.

Our bedroom.

I stopped at the door, only to have her tug my hand.

"I promise you, Edward. I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you. We don't intentionally hurt each other, but somehow we manage to do it anyway. I'd much rather you were in my head for this conversation, but if you don't want that, I won't force you. But you're going to need to listen to me, and you're going to need to believe me.

"I know that you didn't meant to hurt me. I know that, baby. You're already forgiven. And I'm sorry that I wasn't entirely truthful about the pain. I was surprised, really, and it did hurt at first, but I'm telling you, and I'm not lying, that it's not a big deal. It's a bruise, or it will be, and nothing more. I've had a lot worse, and I didn't blame any of those people or things, either. You were trying to make a point, and while that's another conversation for another time, the point you were trying to make, I promise that we can have that conversation. I... want... anyway. Anyway."

It was moments like this I wish I was in her head. I wanted to know what she was going to say. I want to know what that tangent was going to be.

"It hurt, yes, but you're always telling me to tell you if you do accidentally hurt me, that sometimes you don't know your own strength. Don't you realize that this was one of those moments? I think it's pretty amazing that it took us this long to actually have one, don't you? You kept telling me to tell you, but frankly I thought it would be no big deal. That's how you always treated it, before. No big deal. Just tell you if you used too much pressure, one day, accidentally. And I did, and it was a little shocking, and so without thinking I sort of did block you out a little, and when I saw you start to freak out I did sort of down play how much it hurt, because it was no big deal, only suddenly it was a very big deal. And I kept talking to you, only I think that maybe you left my head pretty early, or maybe I was blocking more than I thought, because I kept talking and it was like you were just ignoring me. I mean, I get that you couldn't hear me, I get that now, but at the time it felt like you were just ignoring me, and I was getting mad at you.

"And then you were just going to leave, and I... but, that's not the point. The point is that I love you. And I get why you are upset about hurting me, and I'm sorry I wasn't totally truthful with you about the pain, and I didn't mean to block you out or anything, and I absolutely want you in my life, still, always, forever, please, please, and please come back."

She had long since dropped her coat, dropped the crumbled letter I'd written and she brought one hand to rest over my silent heart.

"I don't know where you are, and I don't like not knowing," she said, her hand over my heart.

I breathed deeply, taking in her scent, the scent of our room, which was the scent of our passion as well as the scent of our rest. I released the breath and brought one hand up to trace the line of her cheekbone with a single fingertip.

"I love you, Bella," I whispered to her. "I only want... you. I only want everything with you," I said, trying to explain, but knowing I was failing miserably. "And I'm so sorry that I hurt you. I'm so sorry."

Then her arms were around me, holding me, squeezing my torso, holding me tightly. "You are forgiven," she said into my chest. "You are absolutely, totally, completely forgiven, right now. Please, whenever you feel comfortable doing so, please come back inside. Whenever you want to."

I nodded silently. Soon.

Bella quietly took her clothes off, turned down our bed, then returned for me, taking her bag from my hand and then pulling me forward.

"Is it okay for me to take your clothes off?" she asked quietly.

I nodded. and felt every tug, every pull from her process of unbuttoning, unfastening, unzipping, and sliding every article of clothing off of me until I was just as naked as she was, and for once in such a state, completely flaccid. Still, Bella didn't pause. She pulled me to the edge of the bed and climbed in, scooting over to make room for me. She held up the covers for me and as I slid between them, I also slid right up against Bella and her long expanse of heated skin. I sighed and felt her arms embrace me, her hands sweeping along my spine, my side, my arms, as if she couldn't get enough.

Our bodies twined together like vines as we lay with one another, our heads sharing the same pillow. We were silent as we held each other's gaze.

"I love you," Bella stated after twelve minutes of silence. "I'm not going anywhere," she added.

Her fingers caressed me lightly, high on my chest and low around my waist, to the side of my spine.

I closed my eyes and stated the obvious. "I was so afraid," I whispered.

"Why were you afraid?" she asked me gently, pressing a tiny, soft kiss on the side of my face.

I looked around at the multitude of my fears and wondered where to begin.

"I am afraid that one day you're going to wake up and realize who you've slept next to. I am afraid that that day had come. I am afraid that when it happens you'll want nothing more to do with me. I am afraid that you might actually be better off without me. I am afraid of watching you grow old. I am afraid of watching you die. I am afraid of having only eighty years to care for you from the sidelines, should you reject me. I am afraid of a life without you. I would not be able to endure a life without you, Bella. I'm not strong enough."

Her response, after a pause, was soft and clear. "That's a lot to have thought that quickly."

"My mind can process things much faster than yours."

"Yes, that's pretty clear to me, now," she said in the same quiet, soothing voice. "I'm not going to reject you, you know. I need to say something, and I need you to hear it, and I'll try really hard not to get offended, but you need to hear it. You seem to have all of these fears about me going back on my promises to you, about me not loving you, about me wanting you gone, or leaving, or something. And I don't... I mean, that's your fear and I don't want to, you know, belittle that, but Edward, seriously: what do your fears say about me? I'm not the sort of person who would do those things, and it hurts my feelings to know that you honestly believe I could, and that, and that I _was. _I mean, we're allowed to argue, to disagree without wanting to get a divorce, you know? You bruised my leg and I nearly tore your heart out, but neither of us meant to do it, you know? And even at that point when the tables are turned and I'm the physically stronger one, even then we'll still have the capacity to bruise more than each other's bodies. But promise me, promise me that you'll always stay to work it out, even if it's hard. Promise me, and I'll promise you that I'll stay and try to make it easier. Promise me, Edward."

I took a deep breath and slipped into her mind. I shuddered with the flood of relief it brought - why had I resisted this? Why do I always resist? I buried my face in her neck and brought my hand to the nape, rubbing one finger tip softly just below her hairline, my sign to her that I was within her mind. "I promise," I said softly, a whispered caress to her fragrant skin.

_Oh, Edward, angel, I love you so much. What do you need? I'll give you anything you need. Anything you need._

"Just this," I murmured. I thought about what she said. "It's not... I suppose... I mean, I'm sorry. I don't mean to doubt your love for me, but I suppose that is exactly what I am doing. It just doesn't make sense to me. I adore you, and sometimes I wonder if you wouldn't be better off without me."

I heard Bella snort. _No one is asking you to be a martyr for a non-existent cause, Edward. Of course I wouldn't be better off without you._

"Why do you love me, Bella?" I demanded of the skin of her neck.

_Why do you love me? Why does Rosalie love Emmett, or Alice Jasper, or Esme Carlislie? Why does Renee love Phil? I don't have an answer, but I still know it's true. I love you because there's something about you that fits something about me, and at this point we __**have**__ to get along. We have to __**learn**__ to get along, because even thinking about what life would be like without you makes me nauseous and lightheaded, so can we not go there, please?_

I nodded and kissed her neck slowly and gently in concentric circles, ever widening until I reached the front of her throat, at which point I trailed upward, over her chin and then back to her ear.

"Bella," I began, knowing my voice would be just barely audible. "May I please make love to you?" Nothing. I would take nothing for granted. Everything, every moment, every touch, every glance, every sigh was a gift.

"Yes," she said. _Of course. Of course, of course._

Softly, gently, I touched her. My eyes were closed, but I did not need my sense of sight to make love to my Bella. I reinforced the memory I had of her body, softly and gently touching her with my finger tips, with my lips. I coaxed a slow burn of arousal within her that matched my own. It was hours yet before we would pause so Bella could eat lunch and I did not orgasm at all until the evening. For long stretches of time I would simply hold myself within her, skin against skin, tongue against tongue, my mind laying quiescent within hers, my cock laying hard but motionless within her soft, wet folds before eventually moving again, inexorable, inevitable and yet ever so slowly, so gently.

Slowly, gently, over the course of the weekend we healed together and my hopes and dreams were given life once more.

***

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	33. The Knife & The Needle

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

***

**Book Two:** One More Year 'Til Forever  
**Chapter 10: **The Knife & The Needle  
**Beta:** Colleen P., who many moons ago suggested that Bella needed to visit the ER, possibly due to getting on the wrong end of an onion-cutting-knife, and who also contributed most of one of Bella's internal monologues, verbatim.  
**Author's Note: **So, right. Y'all know I write. Obviously. Behold the evidence. But I'm also starting some original stuff that I hope to publish at some point in the near future. And I'm starting a pre-reader's group of people to read my stuff confidentially and be part of a closed community forum in discussing it and giving me feedback. So if this notion peaks your interest, send me a Private Message, or DM me on Twitter and we can talk details. Gracias.

***

It took me two weeks to come back to normal, after that Friday morning in Charlie Swan's kitchen, where in a moment of frustration kneeling by Bella as she finished her breakfast I bruised her leg. Two weeks - but perhaps that's not true. Perhaps it has taken longer, because I am not where I was before, and I'm not entirely sure I want to be. I am more aware now, more conscious and conscientious of my actions, my physical movements. But it does not end there. I cannot forget how precious Bella is to me. Her words, her thoughts, the very ineffable essence of who she is, which though I cannot describe I _know_ in a way deeper than words, it is all keen in my awareness that it is all wrapped up in the fragile and unique package that is Bella. My Bella. My once-in-a-lifetime Bella. The thought of losing her, for whatever reason, is enough to let the panic set in.

I understand that I can die. I am not immortal, nor am I wholly indestructible, but I am rather durable; I am significantly more so than my accident prone love.

She insisted. She insisted on cooking that Wednesday for Charlie, but I lingered, chatting amiably with her father as we both half-watched a baseball game on TV, occasionally cheering and sighing in sympathy for the teams on the screen. It was always fruitless to try to get a mental read on Charlie, so I didn't anymore, and instead maintained a happy placement in cradle of Bella's mind.

It was this that enabled me to catch her before she hit the linoleum.

"Shit!" _Fuck! Shit, blood! Ow, hand, oh, fu--_

The knife with which she had been chopping onions slid of the counter and clattered on the floor as I gently laid Bella's unconscious form to the ground. She'd sliced her hand open .

"Charlie! We need to go to the Emergency Room!" I called out in as calm a voice as I could muster, grabbing for the dish towel on the counter top. I quickly folded it until it was the appropriate size and pushed it into her unresponsive palm.

Charlie was right behind me and the worry was clear in his voice. "Does she need an ambulance? Should I call them?"

"It's just her hand. I think she fainted. I caught her before she hit the ground."

Charlie didn't have to take long to process it. "Alright. You carry her, I'll drive."

I did, and in the back of a police cruiser - with lights on, if not sirens - I cradled Bella's unconscious form, holding her clenched left fist above her body.

I called quietly and urgently for Carlisle the moment we pulled into the ER's drop off area. I knew that Charlie was following my side of the conversation, but that mattered less to me.

"Bella, she cut her hand in the kitchen. I think to the bone." Charlie gasped.

"_I'll be right there."_

It all happened very quickly after that. Carlisle worked in a very efficient Emergency Room. Charlie went to move his car but he was very quickly back with me after that. I had a cup of coffee waiting for him.

"Thanks," he replied, taking what looked like a grateful sip.

"He's cleaning out the wound," I reported, focusing on Carlisle's thoughts and words. "She'll have some scarring, but she should have full use of her hand."

"How do you know?"

"I can hear him. He's talking to Bella. She can't hear him I don't think, but I can." This was all true, even though Carlisle was also speaking to me in his mind. But Charlie didn't need to know that tonight. "He's getting ready to sew her back up."

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

Nine.

Nine stitches to sew up my love's hand after an onion slipped on the cutting board. Nine. She might have cut off a finger.

No. I wouldn't go there. She's alive, she's well, and she is in one piece, albeit with nine stitches in that one piece. She wasn't in any pain just yet. She was okay.

"Nine stitches," I relayed after a moment. I listened to Charlie's sigh.

_God, I'm glad Edward was there. Thank you for letting Edward be there._

I looked over and smiled slightly at Charlie, but refrained from addressing his for once crystal clear thoughts.

"Carlisle is going to wrap her hand, then try to wake her up. Smelling salts," I clarified when he gave me a questioning glance.

"Is she usually like this around blood?"

"Far as I can recall." And then Charlie raised an eyebrow. "And you?"

I shrugged. "I have excellent control. Also, I don't need to breathe."

Charlie's brow furrowed for a moment. "You were breathing."

I didn't know what he wanted, but I knew I was close to my own edge, and I just wanted to be near my love, not in this waiting room. I sighed, closed my eyes and let my head tip back until it hit the wall behind me.

"What do you really want to know, Charlie? Just ask. I'll answer."

"Beyond the knife, and potentially hitting her head, was she in any _other_ danger in the kitchen earlier?"

"You mean from me?" I asked quietly, knowing I was too soft for the two people in the room who were eavesdropping on us off and on.

"Mmm hmm," he confirmed just as quietly.

"No," I said, quietly. "It doesn't work like that for me."

"Not even with an open wound?"

"I promise you, Charlie, not even then," I whispered. I felt his hand on my shoulder for a moment, then I heard him take a drink from his coffee and sigh. I still didn't raise my head or open my eyes.

"You doin' okay?" he ask quietly, leaning back in his chair.

I debated whether or not to lie. The closer I got to the man the more it bothered me.

"Not particularly," I said.

Charlie seemed to mull that over for a moment. "That a physiological thing or an emotional thing?"

I exhaled and listened to the sound it made in the room. "Emotional," I conceded. "Definitely emotional."

"Yeah, I know how that goes," Charlie said.

I raised one eye open and looked at him.

He wasn't looking at me as he continued quietly talking. "It's like you've got your hands tied behind your back when she needs you the most."

"Yes, just like that."

I watched as Charlie hunched over, putting his elbows on his knees, still holding onto his coffee. We sat in silence, just like that for quite some time until a nurse ushered us back to see Bella. Carlisle was already gone, but would be back before she was released.

It wasn't a true room, just a small section of a much larger room partitioned with curtains. Bella was sitting up looking sickly pale, her left hand wrapped in a swath of bandages.

"Hey," Bella said, but really it was more of a croak. She looked awful. Her thoughts were reeling with it, too, uncharacteristically random and tumbling. It was in the moment that I realized just how ordered Bella's thoughts usually were.

_Awful. Guh. Home. Want to go home. Home, home, home, home, home, home. Awful. So awful. Charlie can drink coffee at all hours. Why is Edward giving me that look? I want to go home. Stupid onion. Oh damn, did I turn off the stove? I feel so nauseous. This sucks so much. Should be used to it by now. I want to go home. Edward I want to go home. Charlie I want to go home. Carlisle I want to go home. God I want to go home__._

I put my hand up to her face and touched her ever so gently. She felt cooler than she ought, her skin still clammy. "How are you feeling, Bella?" I asked gently.

"Fine," she said. _Home, home, home, home, home, I want to go home, home, home._

"Are you in any pain?" I asked.

"No, I'm fine," she said. _Never, never, never, never, never, never let me smell my own blood, Edward, never, never, never, never, not ever, no never._

It was a desperate chant that made me worry for her more than anything else.

_I really am fine. I've been like this before,_ she said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. _It's not my hand. It's the fainting. It takes me a day or two to get over it, get my body working back to normal. I'm not in pain, honest, my hand's okay. I mean, it's a little twingy, and I'll take the tylenol like Carlisle said, but it's okay. It's the rest of me. It's like, my arms and legs and chest and head... I just, not a fan of fainting. It's awful. _ _I'd rather throw up__, and I hate throwing up. But at least after throwing up, you feel better, usually. Feel sick, throw up, issue resolved. Fainting? Takes forever to return to normal. I don't recommend it. Avoid fainting, whatever you do, Edward._

Even at a time like this I was hard pressed to conceal my smile.

I turned slightly away so Charlie wouldn't be able to see my lips move, if he was watching, and I address Carlisle, speaking with a quietness and rapidity that assured us complete privacy from all of the humans that were around us. He was only at the other end of the ER at this point, tending to someone else, but I knew he could split his concentration more than I was asking him to do.

"I'd really like to get her home, Carlisle. Can she be released sooner than later?"

I was still in Bella's mind, but listening for his response. _Of course. Her paperwork isn't quite finished, but I'll go smile at the nurses. Give me five minutes and she should be able to leave. I'll come over. She needs to sign some things. Did Charlie notice that you signed the initial documents as her next of kin_ _?_

"He was busy moving the car, and hasn't brought it up since," I replied in the same manner my initial query.

_Alright. Be there in just a moment._

"Thank you," I replied before returning my attention to Bella and Charlie. I shifted so that I was just a little behind her so Charlie could be closer. I surveyed the situation for just a moment before hopping up onto the bed behind her so my legs hung off the sides as Bella's did, only I was angled toward her. I put my arm around her waist and murmured quietly so that only the three of us could hear. "Why don't you lean against me?" I asked.

She shifted, rearranging to be more comfortable, but she did use me as a backrest and seemed grateful for it.

"Nine stitches, huh?" Charlie asked.

Bella nodded. I couldn't tell if she was making a face, but I couldn't imagine her fielding such a comment without doing so.

"Why don't we let Edward cook from now on?"

"I'm a good cook!" Bella said, her voice quiet but harsh. "I cook four nights a week without a single incident!" she reminded him.

I rubbed my thumb over her abdomen as I hugged her to me.

"You are, Bella. I'm impressed," I told her honestly, "and I can't even eat what you produce." I kissed the top of her head. I _was_ impressed with her. Not for the first time I marveled at the responsibility she assumed for one so young. I had found out no long ago that Bella had been in charge of meal planning, budgeting, shopping, and meal preparation since she was fourteen. She'd been doing this all quite successfully day in and day out for her mother for the last four years, just under a quarter of her young life.

She sighed and I could feel the tension release.

A nurse came in with a flexible restraint for Bella's left hand and before she'd left, Carlisle came in with the paperwork, but the moment he entered the enclosure, he tossed the chart on the bed and made a beeline for Bella. Charlie shifted a little, and the nurse shifted a little, and Carlisle came right in front of us as I sat, still behind her, letting her lean on me. With both hands, Carlisle framed her face and with a tenderness I didn't usually observe him using with his patience, he inquired after her wooziness.

Bella responded, but I was struck by something that hadn't dawned on me before, and I felt foolish for being so slow on the uptake. Charlie's daughter had cut her hand, and he was nervous for her. My wife cut her hand and I was concerned, and being separated from her made me want to climb the walls. But Carlisle thought of Bella as a daughter, now, too. Carlisle's one and only human daughter was injured and still quite obviously feeling poorly. She was more than just a patient to him. Bella Cullen - though she had yet to legally change her name - was Carlisle's newest daughter, and he, too, was a deeply concerned party.

I suppose I expected to feel jealous in this moment, the same as I felt when Bella first saw him, then promptly tripped down the stairs in shock over his beauty. That was not the case, however. I was just grateful - intensely grateful that there was another person in this world who cared deeply for Bella, who wanted her to be happy.

"I just want to go home and go to sleep," Bella moaned.

Carlisle smiled at her. "Well, I'll keep an eye on your stitches as time passes and as soon as I'm convinced the wound is healing properly, I'll take them out at home. You won't need to come back into the hospital, alright?"

They smiled at one another and I could see him stroking her cheekbone with his thumb. As he turned away, but before he could pick up the chart, Charlie caught his attention. They shook hands as Charlie thanked him, simply and sincerely, but I got the impression there was more Charlie was trying to convey. I slipped out of Bella's mind just for a moment, but I couldn't pick up anything from the man.

Carlisle took it all with grace, as he always did. "If you ever need to talk... about _anything_, give me a call. He reached into his pocket and retrieved one of his business cards. Picking up the chart and pen, he wrote something on the reverse. "That's my cell phone number," he said, handing the card to Charlie, who looked at it for a moment before pocketing it. "Call anytime. You know I don't sleep," he said quietly, with a grin.

Charlie snorted, but I could see the beginning of a smile on his features. The nurse left the enclosure, but Carlisle and Charlie were not quite finished talking. Bella and I just sat on the bed, watching like theatre, utterly amused at their bonding time. If only we could have had a bucket of popcorn for Bella, the scene would have been perfect.

No longer shaking hands, Charlie crosses his arms over his chest, though his face remained as open as it ever was. "So," he said in almost a whisper, "how old are you, really?"

Carlisle grinned, then casually looked to me. I understood completely. If he was going to have this conversation in a public place, then I needed to monitor it. I lifted my fingers to scratch at the back of Bella's neck and slipped out of her mind. I nodded to him slightly and with one part of my attention monitored the thirty-eight minds around us. The nurse who just left was wishing she was Bella, and hoping that she might be able to be the meat in a Carlisle-Edward sandwich, and was wondering why doctors and nurses in this hospital didn't have quite as much sex with each other as they did on those hospital dramas. The people in the enclosures nearest to us weren't paying us any attention, and everywhere else it was business as usual. Still, I would monitor as long as the conversation continued.

"Give me that card back," Carlisle said to Charlie, indicating with his fingers in a come-hither motion. Wordlessly his request was obeyed and he jotted the answer underneath his phone number.

Charlie's eyes widened as he looked at the back of the business card. That was the only physical measure of his surprise. He raised an eyebrow and looked back at Carlisle.

"Give or take?" he quoted in disbelief.

"Records weren't as accurate then," Carlisle replied softly.

"How long have you been practicing medicine?" Charlie asked, his tone not quite as even as it usually was.

Carlisle wordlessly gestured for the card again, and again wrote on the back, below his other scribblings.

I heard Charlie's soft exhale.

Before very long they'd arranged to go deep sea fishing on the yacht. I for one was slightly stunned while I watched Charlie literally blossom before us. I don't think I'd ever seen the man this chatty, though he clearly felt more comfortable with Carlisle than he did with me, or Bella for that matter. Well, wonders really did never cease.

Once the two finished talking, Carlisle signed Bella's release papers and came back to lean over and kiss Bella softly on the top of her head. "Do be careful with the knives in the future, my dear."

The nurse over heard that and saw the kiss as she walked by and it sent her into a tailspin of lust. I was trying not to laugh. In her head she had thrown Carlisle on to the bed and started undoing his pants. But --ugh-- then she had me approaching her from behind, pulling down her bright blue scrub bottoms and yes, have fairly rough sex with her from behind as she tried valiantly to swallow what she was certain would be a massive erection on Carlisle's part.

I sighed. This was actually one of the reasons I didn't often visit Carlisle at his place of work. It was much worse when we posed as brothers. For most people, anyway, the fact that I was his son was something of a deterrent in imagining having sex with us both at the same time.

Not for this nurse, apparently.

I slipped back into Bella's mind with a grateful sigh. Oh yes, that was quite enough of that.

"Come on," I said quietly to my love. "Let's get out of here before they start talking again.

Bella giggled weakly and we walked out together, in front of Charlie and Carlisle. I had a hand around her waist to steady her, but the moment we left the Emergency Room I swung her up into my arms.

_Thank you. I want to walk. I swear I do. But I just feel awful. Gosh, I hope no one sees me like this._

Charlie led the way to the cruiser as Bella sporadically chattered on. Bella was asleep by the time we were back to the house and so I silently followed Charlie into the house and up to her room. Her father pulled back her sheets and blankets and I gently laid Bella down. She murmured my name as I pulled off her shoes and socks and tucked her in.

I wanted nothing more than to undress her properly and crawl into bed with her. I just wanted to hold her. I needed it. I stepped back toward the door.

"I should be going," I said softly.

We both went down stairs, but I'd never forgotten the state of the kitchen as we left the house earlier, and I wasn't going to leave it to Bella to clean in the morning. As it was, I fully intended to be over every day until the stitches were out, cooking dinner for them. It was a small effort that I would be happy to make until she was well.

I cleaned the kitchen in silence, fully aware of Charlie leaning against the doorframe, watching me. I heard him sigh several times. As always it was slightly frustrating not to be able to read his mind with the same ease as everyone else.

"I can see myself out," I said, looking up and wiping my hands with a towel before laying it out to dry.

Charlie sighed again, and seemed to decide to say whatever he'd likely been considering all the while I cleaned.

"Why don't you just cut to the chase, Edward?" I met his eyes, but couldn't read anything from him, even when I tried. "I know you sneak in through her window. Unless you need to go home to _get_ something, why don't we both just head up stairs?"

For a long moment I couldn't move. Thankfully my perception of a long moment wasn't Charlie Swan's perception of a long moment, but there was a long moment where I could do nothing but stand and stare dumbly at him.

I snapped out of it as soon as I could.

"Thank you, Charlie," was all I said. Charlie went ahead of me, and I turned off lights as I passed them.

***

The beginning of November saw Jacob Black's new motorcycle and attending motorcycle jacket. Of course, he couldn't actually drive it. He still didn't have his license. The thing just sat in the garage. He was far too young, but Rosalie couldn't actually deny him when he'd turned what literally were puppy-dog eyes on her. But it was confirmed: Jacob Black was the other motorcyclist from Alice's vision, the one who sat in front of Elisabeth.

***

It was just before our Christmas trip to the Amazon that Bella had firmly decided on what manner of tattoo she would be getting, and where she would be putting it. She wanted it on the right side of her torso so that the image would wrap around slightly to the front and the back. In the center was the Cullen coat of arms, but from that six tendrils came out in a sort of tribal swirl. The tendril that came from the top of the crest swirled around an architect's ruler and angle and the physician's caduceus. The bottom tendril swirled around an open book and three eighth notes in a triplet form. The top right tendril swirled around a rifle and a crystal ball. The top left tendril swirled around a sports car and a butcher's knife. The bottom left tendril swirled around the letter 'E', wrapped around the figure of a wolf sitting on its haunches, howling. The bottom right tendril swirled around the letter 'S', wrapped around a similar figure of a wolf, standing. The entire tattoo was more organic than symmetrical, and each pair of figures was no more than two inches in diameter. It was done entirely in black ink. It was complex, large, and incredibly delicate.

It was not what I was expecting. In my head I had pictured some sort of tiny, discrete Cullen crest, perhaps on her hip. In my wilder moments I imagined a trail of tiny, fragile music notes gracing her inner thigh, something I would no doubt enjoy licking for all eternity. I had no idea she'd planned on using fully a third of her torso as a canvas.

"Why on the side?" I asked.

Bella shrugged.

"Why not on your back?"

"I'd never see it on my back." _And it would be all you'd see when you take me from behind. Hmm. How would __**you**__ feel about it being on my back?_

I only had to think about that for a moment before I had to bite back the groan. Though I'd still sort of like the trail of music notes... I'd never once considered that a tattoo on Bella might be appealing in any kind of sexual way, the tattoo itself... until now.

I imagined it with more detail, though.

"What if there were more of the swirls, though?" Oh, the picture was becoming very, very clear in my head.

Bella, however, was having problems imagining it. _Draw it for me? _

I fetched my journal from downstairs and returned only moments later. I took my jeans back off and hopped back into bed with Bella before flipping open to the next available page and uncapping my pen.

My version incorporated every element that hers did, except that I also drew it in context, starting with Bella's beautifully curved shoulders, the line of her side, the roundness of her ass. Upon that I drew the tattoo to scale, starting with the shield, which I placed over her diaphragm. I drew the six pairs of symbols as she imagined them with the tribal vines swirling out from the center. I altered the wolves, drawing them in the same highly stylized manner as the Quileutes did, themselves, in black and red But then I kept drawing. There were faded vines and stronger ones weaving in and out, but stopping at a line I didn't draw, running smoothly down each side of her back and coming to a point just above her ass and just below her shoulder blades. The entire design was three-quarters the width of her back. Still, at the sides, at the edges of the design I did something different yet again. On the left I drew the impression of pine trees shrouded in mist. On the right, stark saguaros.

She gasped when I showed it to her. _Edward, it's beautiful!_

"You'd never get to wear a backless dress to prom."

_Who the hell cares about prom? Haven't we already done that once? Do we really need to do it a second time? And who says I wouldn't want to wear a backless dress, anyway?_

I needed to research tattoos. I got the impression from picking up the random thoughts that I always did, that there was the possibility of an allergic reaction to the ink, besides how long it would take to actually produce the design. It was not small, and if I understood it correctly, large designs took several sessions to complete, with time for healing in between. I didn't want Bella to be doing this while pregnant - the pain wouldn't be good for her or the twins, I wouldn't think - and if there were complications with the pregnancy, God forbid, I would change her in a heart beat. I'd just as soon there not be a half-finished tattoo on her back for all eternity at that point.

"Why don't we take this to a place in Port Angeles this week and find out what is involved, and then we can get started on this after we come back from Brazil?"

She kissed my cheek. _Thank you, baby. You're okay with this? I mean, you're not weirded out, or anything?_

It felt like my heart expanded a bit. Bella may have been shy when it came to agreeing to marriage, but watching her jump for the chance to put a stylized version of our family tree on her back for all eternity made me realize yet again that her issues with marriage had nothing at all to do with her love or devotion for me.

I kissed her right back on the cheek, my answer silent but obvious.

_If you could get a tattoo, what would you get?_

Instantly the image popped up into my mind. I laughed.

"Was that a funny question?" she asked dryly, but I could tell that she was feeling a little fragile. I was quick to assure her. I tossed the journal and pen off the bed and rolled over so that Bella was laying on top of me.

"No," I said, grinning. I pulled her hips into mine so that there was some beautiful friction for both of us. "But I'm sure my answer will amuse you. It amused me. But before I give it you and utterly bias you, I want to know what _you_ would have me tattoo myself with."

Her mind zipped through images quickly, and quickly she discarded most of them. She imagined all the drawings I'd ever done, all throughout my journals, most especially the drawings I'd done of late, which had all been of her, or us together, though she hadn't seen even half of them. I was saving that for Christmas.

In the end I saw a white swan and a black swan on my back right shoulder blade.

"And now, _Edward," _she said, her voice taking on a threatening tone that made me grin all the wider. She put her hands on my shoulders and put her weight on me, pushing back and putting her nakedness on beautiful display. "Now, you have to tell me what you'd have on you, _and _what you'd prefer on me. And no getting out of it, mister."

I smirked up at her. "Or what?" I wasn't sure I didn't want to keep my imaginings of her thigh a delightful secret for just a little while longer, but the prospect of actually getting what I wanted was too strong to deny. If she didn't know about it, she couldn't give it to me. And if it turns out that she didn't want it, then really, neither did I.

"How about I tell you what you get if you tell me, instead? I know you enjoy any punishment I dole out way too much for it to be effective as, you know, a deterrent."

My smile was downright lascivious and I knew it. I licked my top lip, just because I knew it would send her into a tailspin of fantasy, imagining what I would shortly be doing with it.

And I was right.

"If you tell me and I find it remotely agreeable," she whispered to me, "I'll do it."

I growled and lunged, cradling Bella protectively but fiercely as we went flying onto the floor at the foot of our bed. She was beneath me, still cradled as I growled, my tongue thrusting into her mouth, my cock finding her sweet, slippery lips and thrusting into its hot, wet home.

She groaned deeply around my tongue and wrapped her legs around my waist. All was bliss and ecstasy for the next thirty minutes before she came, begging me to come with her, threatening me that just because I could make her come whenever I wanted to... Well, she never finished that thought, actually. But I understood her point.

My elbows were by her ribs, my hands holding her shoulders and supporting her head as we rested together, fully entwined. I bent down to rub my lips against hers.

_Spill it, orgasm boy._

I laughed and my entire body shook. Bella gasped and clenched her pussy tightly around my already recovered cock and round two would have begun but for Bella slapping my ass.

Actually, that wasn't much of a deterrent.

"Edward. Tell me. Both. Now. No getting sidetracked, this time."

I grinned at her. "Which do you want to hear first?"

She thought about that for a minute, then decided on the tattoo I would have grace my body.

I could only imagine how much shit I was going to get from Emmett about this. Then again, if he could, he'd probably have a similar one, so maybe not.

I leaned down and licked her ear before I whispered into it. That wouldn't make a difference as to whether or not the rest of the family heard, but I wanted to do it. "I would tattoo 'Belongs to Bella' at the base of my cock, if I could."

Bella was torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to do something very, very sexual with me, but there again she couldn't choose. She flipped through all of the possibilities so quickly. She wanted to ride my cock. She wanted to scratch the hell out of my back as I pounded into her. She wanted to feel my chest against her back as I thrust in deeply. She wanted to suck my cock, to rake her teeth against my length, to suck on the head while her hands pumped and squeezed and wrung me out as I drained myself onto her tongue. She wanted to savor me like an exquisite meal.

I groaned, my head hitting the carpet.

"_Jesus,_ Bella!" I shook with the intensity of her fantasies. I couldn't stop. I had to have her again. And I didn't think I was going to last long, actually.

Come to think of it, I wanted more.

"Oh, fuck, Bella," I breathed in her ear. "What else? What else do you want to do to me? Picture it. Now. God, picture it now and squeeze me, _hard."_

She imagined it again, sucking my cock. She was on her knees in the parking lot at school and I was leaning against the trunk of the Volvo as students walked by, oblivious. She licked all along the underside, swirling her tongue over the tip before plunging me back into her mouth. My growl was loud, though no one noticed, and both of my hands were in her hair, cradling the back of her head as she came up and down on my length.

I shivered on the floor as my thrusts became erratic. I was about to climax without the benefit of blood and I was close, but I wasn't there, yet.

"Teeth," I groaned. "Fuck, baby, I love it when you bite me."

She did one better. Even as she imagined biting and raking her teeth along my cock as she withdrew me from her mouth she also bit me as we lay on the floor together. She turned her head and licked along the column of my neck and bit me, right behind my ear.

I grunted my shock and pleasure as my body shook and my cock twitched and spurted.

"_Fuck,"_ I exclaimed, each time my cock spasmed and released more of my essence within her.

Finished, my head thudded back down to the carpet next to hers.

"Wow," she said, laughing at me.

I groaned. "Don't start," I begged. "You have your moments, too."

"I know, baby," she said in a thoroughly patronizing tone, rubbing my back.

I snorted at her.

"So, do I get to know the one you want to see on me, or should we just skip you telling me and I'll bring you off again?"

I leaned up and narrowed my eyes at her. "If I didn't want to see it on you so badly, I wouldn't even tell you. It would be my delicious little secret, and every time I kissed that part of your body, I would know it and you wouldn't. _So be __**nice**_," I said, the last phrase on a growl.

_You're a little temperamental today. Have I..._ And here she seemed to stop thinking, but I knew that couldn't be so. Her body was becoming more agitated, even after sex I could tell, but neither had she fully kicked me out of her head.

She was compartmentalizing. I was struck for a moment just how often she probably did it, without even realizing it, if she even realized it now.

I cradled her face with my hands and rearranged my features, erasing my earlier temper.

"I don't know exactly what you're thinking, Bella, but I do know that my mood swings will never, ever, not ever be your fault." I held her gaze until her eyes relaxed. I was in her mind the entire time, but her mind was seemingly blank. Finally she nodded.

I withdrew from her and stood, scooping her up into my arms as I rose. I carried her back to bed, but she didn't want to let go of me. With her arms still locked around my neck, I laid her down and laid down next to her. I drew one hand up the inside of her right thigh.

"Right here," I whispered, trailing one finger up a curved and wandering path from a mid point on her inner thigh up, up, up until my fingers were buried in her heat. I let my thumb swirl around her clitoris as three fingers delved into the source of her slickness. I spoke softly as I brought her as quickly as I could to her climax.

"Right there," I said. "That is the trail. I would drop them like breadcrumbs to Eden, tiny, delicate, fragile music notes. The inside of your thigh. The melody of your nocturne, the song your body sang to me the day I met you before I even knew how much you would end up refashioning my world. Your body sings to me, Bella. Sing for me, Bella."

She groaned my name. I continued on.

"My song, your song; my life, your life; my body, your body. It's all intertwined, Bella, and I'm not sure where I begin and you end, where you start and I leave off. They say it's supposed to be like this for the first ten years, but I don't want it to end, Bella. I don't ever want it to end. So I promise you. I promise you. Every morning of forever, I'll kiss that trail up, up, up. A tattoo you get... you'll live with it forever. I can't do that. I want to, but it's not something I can give you. But I can give you this: if you get the tattoo, I will promise to kiss that trail every morning of forever."

With that she shuddered against me, her orgasm relatively small but present. I licked my fingers dry, but had no wish to stop there. It wasn't enough.

It never was, anymore.

I slipped down her body and kissed the trail where I knew they would be before sliding into the feast that awaited me.

***

It was three days before Bella and I found ourselves before a tattoo artist. We walked into the first shop on my list and I nearly walked back out again. I wasn't in Bella's head, and she knew it - I wanted to get a feel for the people around us, and I was glad for the decision. Still, Bella's hand was in mine, and she was determined to at least speak with someone, I could tell.

I leaned down and whispered into Bella's ear as she looked around the shop. We were only just in the door, but already the minds were buzzing and I categorically did not like what I was hearing.

"This is not the right place for us to get your tattoo, love."

She looked up at me. "No?" she asked quietly.

I was already turned, ready to leave again. Still, I spoke ever-so-quietly into her ear. "The operators of this shop regularly engage in mind altering substances which leaves their judgment and capability open for far too many questions for my comfort. Also, the man approaching us is hoping to have sex with the both of us in a variety of ways, none of which I find appealing, or even complimentary. It is not simply a fantasy. It is a plan he sees coming to fruition. Can we go now?"

I saw Bella give a weak smile to the man approaching before linking her hand with mine and walking out of the door I held open for her. I looked back and scowled at the man who had been approaching.

"Stupid fucking college kids," I heard him mutter with some volume.

"Stupid fucking deviant human," I muttered once the door was shut.

"Edward!" she admonished me as we walked down the street to the second tattoo shop on my list. "You don't know that, and you shouldn't judge," she said softly.

"I _do_ know that, and I _can _judge," I asserted.

She rolled her eyes at me, continuing our quiet conversation. "You know what's in someone's head _in a moment_, but you don't necessarily _know_ them. And besides, even if a person really _is_ a certain way, that doesn't mean they can't change that at the drop of a hat. People change all the time, Edward. And if we couldn't, I mean, if we couldn't always be growing and learning and changing for the better, then... what's the point? All those guys in there, they could be in rehab in the next month."

I gave Bella a dubious look.

"Or something. This month, next month, next year, who knows? Who knows what event is going to happen to them to intervene in their lives for the better? Someone who loves them? A total stranger? We're all good candidates for enlightenment, Edward. Even that guy back there."

I looked at Bella closely. "You've been reading those Buddhist monastics again, haven't you?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes again. "That's besides the point, O Love Of My Life."

"No, I think that's exactly the point." I really didn't think Pema Chodron had vampires in mind when she said that 'we were all good candidates for enlightenment.'

"No, the point is action on the ground. You. Me. We can go through our lives judging, or we can go through our lives not judging. So, okay. It was a good choice not to get a tattoo from that guy, I agree, if only for the drugs thing. And he might have had a lower than average intelligence. And he might have been someone who actively engages in sex. And he was obviously not a member of mainstream society with that many tattoos. And he was certainly human. So, okay. The epithet 'stupid fucking deviant human' was maybe pretty accurate. But really... do we need to judge him as somehow less for being those things? I mean, not everybody gets to be really intelligent. And sex is really beautiful. And I'm sure he has a really good reason for wanting to be covered in tattoos. And honestly, he can't help being human. Most of us are."

"Okay," I said, interrupting before she could continue. I saw her point, even though I didn't necessarily like seeing it, nor did I care to examine just why that might be. "I get it," I said. I pulled our joined hands up to my lips and brushed my fingers over the grey wool of her incredibly large and squashy mittens.

I held the door open for Bella at the second place, then had to juggle slightly as she tripped over the threshold. My shoulder held the door open and my other hand was on her waist, but it took Bella a long moment to sort her feet out, as one of her bootlaces was well and truly caught on the framing.

"Oh, shit! Are you guys okay?"

Bella was blushing, but the gentleman covered in tattoos that was quickly kneeling by her feet pulled her bootlace free was thinking nothing but helpful thoughts.

Sitting back on his knees, all three of us in the doorway, he offered his hand to Bella, then myself.

"Hi. Welcome to Indelible Ink. I'm Jason."

Bella and I both offered our names and we all shuffled out of the doorway and down two steps into the shop.

"So who's thinking about getting some work done?"

"Me," Bella quietly volunteered.

_Hmm. He probably already has art. I'm guessing shoulder, back, or bicep. Maybe two out of three. Plus possibly some piercings__. Maybe a nipple?__ Seems likely. Not the type to be cool with a pretty girl like her getting art without breaking that ground first. No, he's definitely got it hidden somewhere._

"Are you considering a tattoo, or a piercing, Bella?" Jason asked.

_Piercing. Hmm,_ I could hear Bella clearly muse to herself. I decided to slip back inside her mind, and listen to Jason from there. The others in the shop all seemed quite above board. I laid my fingers briefly on the back of her neck, letting her know of my decision.

"Well, I want to get a tattoo. Kind of a big one. But I want to work up to that."

"Very wise," Jason remarked. "Do you know what you want?"

"We brought drawings," she said, as we followed Jason to a desk at the side of the room. We all sat around the desk, and Bella fished inside her bag for the folded up pieces of paper I'd given her. Suddenly she looked up. "Oh, um. Did you want to look at both?"

When he nodded, she pulled the papers from her purse and handed them over, folded. I knew that the music notes were on top. I had drawn them to scale on 11"x17" paper, in the context of her body.

_Whoh. Okay._ This, upon only seeing the first drawing. I got the impression that he was more impressed with my rendition of her leg than the tattoo itself. Then, when he turned to the second page, _Holy mother of... all that's holy. Damn, that is really nice. Symmetrical and asymmetrical all at once. Nice balance. _"You want this in black ink only?"

Bella looked at me. _You think the change will do something to the ink?_

I shrugged.

She looked back at the expert. "What would you recommend?" _I was going for subtle,_ was what she was about to say, but then checked herself, realizing that there was nothing subtle about the tattoo no matter what color ink was used.

He started explaining the places where color could be used to subtly enhance the picture - the trees, the cactus, the different elements of the symbols.

_Oh! Then the crest should be green, huh? _She pointed that out, too.

It didn't take very long to discuss the particulars and soon we were waiting for Jason to finish setting up for the string of music notes. We would come back after Christmas, if all went well with Bella's healing process, and at that point we would approve or disapprove of Jason's version of the genealogical tattoo, and go forward from there. It would take four or five session over the course of two or three months to finish it completely.

We were shown to a private room in the back where Bella was handed a large beach towel and told to take her jeans off, sit on the chair, and cover everything but the area for the tattoo, which she did once the door was shut and we were alone.

_I'm nervous. I mean, I want to do this, but I'm nervous. I shouldn't be nervous. Should I be nervous? No, I shouldn't be nervous._

I smiled and took her hand. "It's okay to be nervous. I'm just going to stand over here and be jealous that you can actually mark your skin."

_Are you really, Edward? Jealous, I mean?_

I shrugged. "A little, yes."

We were interrupted by the knock on the door. Jason was very business-like and it was not long before he was half-way through the simple tattoo on Bella's leg. After the first momentary shock, Bella reported that the pain wasn't bad at all, and Jason confirmed that tattoos that stayed away from bone were typically much less painful. I was hard pressed to keep from laughing at Bella's internal monologue which seemed slightly more free-ranging than usual. Or, it was possible that she was always like this, only she wasn't shielding so completely today. I really had no idea which it might be...

_Cannot believe you wanted to do this to your cock. No it doesn't hurt so much but technically that skin is really delicate and I'm sure it would hurt. Nerve endings. Several nerve endings in the thighs apparently. Thighs. I'm hungry, what are we doing about my lunch? There's fried chicken in the fridge at home. I could sink my teeth in a thigh. I wonder what sex will feel like when I'm not all squishy and you're not all marbly. I could really bite you and not break my teeth. Can nothing break your skin? I know I compare you to marble but things can cut marble. Oh! Ack. No, no, I'm fine. Everything's fine. The first prick when he starts a new note is still a surprise. What if we got a chisel and pressed really hard? Might need Emmett because I'm not sure I'd be strong enough. Or, don't they do something with diamonds? Like diamond-tipped saws and stuff? Okay, saw imagery, not so great__. But a drill would be appropriate. Okay I am seriously craving some fried chicken. What would could might could leave a hole in a vampire? What would could might could keep the hole open? Hmm..._

"Jason, I saw something on TV once, but I don't know if I got it right. Are there some people who tattoo themselves - well, sort of tattoo themselves, I don't know the right term for it, really - but they do it through scarring? I mean, there's no ink involved, they just cut themselves really precisely, really artfully, and then they do something to promote scaring instead of a really smooth healing. Have you heard of that? Do people really do that?"

"Oh sure. It's less exact, and of course you can't get the kind of detail and color as when you use ink, but sure. I've also seen people use ink and scaring together, to add relief to mainstream tattoos. There are all sorts of ways to mark your body, really."

Bella looked over at me and raised one eyebrow, but my eyes were already wide. The picture was clear in her mind: Leah in wolf form using a single claw to carefully scratch a line on my back. Bella with a sponge soaked in venom, dabbing at the line as it is formed, before it healed.

I was stunned, absolutely stunned.

Stunned, and _elated._

"_You are so fucking brilliant,"_ I murmured with intensity just before I leaned over and kissed her soundly. I heard Jason laughing at us in the background, but I didn't stop kissing my beautiful, brilliant Bella until I was absolutely finished. By that point, I'd already come up with an excuse.

I looked over and gave a highly calculated sheepish smile to Bella's tattoo artist. "I'm allergic to the inks used, so I could never get a tattoo for myself. But this could possibly work for me," I said with a grin that was in no way manufactured.

Jason just grinned at us both. "Well, I know a guy who does that, if you're looking for an artist."

"I'll need to think about a possible design a bit first," I said, making my excuses. This would involve Leah, Bella, and possibly Carlisle, and really, no one else. I had no doubt that Leah would do it. I only doubted her artistic ability, of which I really had no idea. Regardless of natural talent, what would she be capable of doing in wolf form? And would she be willing to practice?

Practice. I imagined Leah practicing on a piece of wood, scratching out a line drawing of a swan, over and over and over again. Once she had mastered that, if she was willing, we could graduate her to sheet metal. I wondered if the black swan could be achieved by scraping away all the skin within the line drawing, whereas the white swan could simply remain an empty line drawing.

This could work.

I grinned lasciviously.

I really _could_ have "Belongs to Bella" tattooed at the base of my cock.

...on second thought, we'd have to work Leah up to that. That's not something you spring on a person. Leah, sweetheart, future daughter-in-law, could you possibly whip out the claws and carve --ever-so-carefully, mind-- a short phrase at the base of my cock? No, don't worry, sweetheart, we'll cover up the bits you don't need to see. As appropriate as can be, no worries.

Oh yes, I can see _that_ going over well.

Still, there was plenty of time. We'll get through the swans first.

I couldn't stop grinning. As Emmett liked to remind me, yet again I got to have my cake and eat it, too.

***

**End Note: ** So... what did you think of it? Finally we see Bella in the ER, and finally we get to hear something about the tattoo Bella had mentioned much, much earlier in the story. What say you? (Click on those green words below, and let me know!) And if you're interested in becoming a pre-reader for some for-profit fiction, let me know about that, too!


	34. Jacksonville Role Play

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

***

**Book Two:** One More Year 'Til Forever  
**Chapter 10: **Jacksonville Role Play  
**Beta:** Colleen P. Bless her, she's still with me.  
**Author's Note: **So, the first vignette is a scene very similar to one I've written in different fandoms. And really, I don't think it will be the last time I write this sort of scene.

***

I pulled Bella up by the hand and walked with her slowly until we were in front of the floor-length mirror across from our bed. I stood behind her, my hands on her abdomen, her own resting lightly on mine. I met her eye in the mirror.

_What's this about?_

"We need to talk, and I need you to keep an open mind, because I have a feeling you're not going to like what I'm going to say. Even though it's pleasant."

_What... what are you talking about? If it's nice, why wouldn't I like it?_

I held Bella tightly to me, mostly so she wouldn't be able to squirm away once I actually introduced the topic that had been weighing on my mind: her body image.

"I think it is high time you come to a right understanding about just how beautiful you are."

I expected the eye-roll. I expected the long-suffering sigh. I expected a silent mind, indicating that she was now shielding all of her thoughts from me, even while I was still within her mindscape.

"You don't have to do that, you know. I'm perfectly in control."

_Do what? _ Ah, a thought. That's encouraging.

"You don't have to compartmentalize so I won't hear what you're thinking. I'm in control this time. I won't hurt you. I want us to be able to discuss this like rational adults."

_How... did... you... know..._

I didn't let her suffer. "Your thoughts are too orderly, too simplified most of the time for that to be sum total of them. Occasionally, sure. Everyone goes silent, or focused occasionally. Some people more than others. But if this is well and truly the only thinking you do, what you let me hear - whether its intentional or not - then you've already surpassed most of the spiritual masters that I've encountered. I've been in a lot of people's heads, Bella. I've heard hundreds of thousands of minds.

"You obviously have a unique ability - or nearly unique, Charlie seems to share it - to shield your mind, and it is at least partially under your control. You've kicked me out and let me back in often enough for me to respect that control. I know you don't have to let me in completely, you don't have to lay all your thoughts in the open, but Bella... I wish you would. Not being able to hear you, to understand why you say what you say, not being able to let all of your thoughts wash over me like the tide... Bella, it's like losing a sense organ. It's like losing my sight, or my sense of smell, or heaven forbid, my hearing."

"I don't do it on purpose," she whispered, staring intently at the floor before us.

I leaned down and kissed the back of her head.

"At least, not most of the time," she amended.

"Tell me what it's like," I said.

She laughed and looked up toward the ceiling. She held on tightly to me. "It's like this house, actually. You open the front door and it opens up to this huge room, and if you didn't know how big the house was supposed to be, if you didn't understand that the doors lead to other places, you'd think, 'yeah, this is it.' And sometimes you can see the stairs and wander up them, sometimes other doors are open and you can wander through the entire house, but sometimes I close those doors. When I want to hide a present from you, I put it in a room and close the door. I didn't think it would work at first, but you were pretty surprised by the ring, weren't you?"

I nodded. I knew it. "How many of those doors are closed right now?"

"All of them," she whispered, looking into my eyes in the mirror.

"Will you open one of them? The one where all the thoughts about your body and your beauty are hanging out?"

Her face displayed her dismay quite clearly.

"You're going to be mad at me," she whispered.

I rubbed her abdomen. "Bella, I may disagree with you. I may have a violent urge to maim whomever filled your head with these negative thoughts about yourself. And I certainly reserve the right to persuade you at every opportunity to see reality through my eyes. And I do want to discuss it with you, but I promise to keep my cool. I may get mad, but not at you."

_I'll try. _She closed her eyes, but I don't think it was concentration, necessarily. I think she just didn't want to have to see the look on my face for whatever followed.

I heard and felt her take a deep breath and sigh, and on her sigh I felt the tenor of her mind change. It didn't feel more expansive or profound, I was just suddenly aware of more than I had been before.

"Thank you, sweetheart. Now, what do you think when I say you're beautiful?"

_I think you're blind and biased is what I think. _And there it was. The complexities of her mind were back in a way that I had missed without realizing it - her mind hadn't been this complex in months. There were clearer thoughts and background impressions all swirling, most having to do with the topic at hand, but some a product of free association. In and amongst her thoughts about her plainness - plain was definitely the word of the hour - there was also Helen Keller, a radio talk show I'd once heard Charlie listening to, and the impressions of beauty from around her, mainly from my family: myself, Rosalie and Carlisle. The three most beautiful people that Bella knew. Her mother.

"Obviously I disagree. But let me be specific. I think you are stunning. You appeal to me utterly and completely - this is not in dispute. It cannot be. I'm telling you that you appeal to me, and that your appeal consumes me. But I recognize that beauty is subjective. Let me tell you how you are beautiful to me.

"Shall we start with your skin?" I freed one hand so I could stroke the soft skin of her face. "Your skin is clear and flawless. It is incredibly soft. It smells unbelievably good. I adore how it feels against my skin. I frequently have to overcome the urge to kiss every inch of it.

"Your figure is lovely. If I dreamed, it would haunt my dreams. You are perfectly in proportion." Now wasn't the time to tell her I wished she would gain some weight. Regardless, I considered her beautiful, so it didn't matter. "Your abdomen was the first part of you that I decided I adored."

_Too big. Not flat enough._

I had to correct her. "Bella, if your abdomen were any flatter, you wouldn't have room for your uterus. Now, you may not have plans for that particular organ, but I certainly do, and so you're not allowed to get rid of it just yet." I rubbed that part of her.

_Seriously? I mean, that's why no matter what I do I can't get rid of that last little bit__?_

I slipped my hands underneath her jeans just slightly so my fingers could brush over the area in question. "Right here. I love this space right here. Inside of you, right here, is the mystery of life. Our children are going to grow right here. But you know, I loved this space before I came to terms with that. I just love this part of you. No good reason. I just do."

I removed my fingers from inside her clothes and smoothed her shirt back into place. I ended with my hands on her hips. "I love your hips. They are just big enough..." I trailed off, deciding to show her rather than say it. I held her tight and ground myself into her, holding onto her hips.

She snorted and rolled her eyes. _Yes, yes, and you love my ass._

"As a matter of fact, I do. I really, really do. It's perfectly rounded and it fills out your jeans beautifully. Your ass looked amazing in the dress you wore to Prom last spring. And I was not the only one to think so."

_What?_ She was genuinely confused. Oh, Bella...

"You know I'm not always in your head. I have to take the temperature around me on a fairly regular basis. You know this. What I never saw any point in telling you was how admired you were among Forks High's male population."

_What? That can't be right. No, it's not... it... I can't..._

"Do you want me to name names?" I asked, moving my hands back to her abdomen and stroking gently.

"No!" she said quickly. _I'd never be able to look them in the eye again. _

"They think you're lovely, Bella. Many of the girls are jealous."

_Yes, because they all want to date you._

"That's true, sadly, but there's another side to their jealousy. They wished they could be more like you. They wished they could be as beautiful, as interesting, as funny as you are."

_Funny? Where the hell did you get funny from?_

"Apparently other people notice that you make me laugh on a regular basis. They rightly attribute my laughter to your sense of humor. They think it cosmically unfair that you should have looks, a personality, and a sense of humor. They see it as the insult to the injury of getting me to date you."

Bella was laughing now. _You're not making this up, are you?_

I shook my head. "No. I'm not making this up. But I do think it's time I talk about your breasts. Bella, you have perfect breasts. I love them. I will hear no arguments on the subject. If you cannot understand how much I adore your breasts then you clearly do not understand _me_ very well, and all I can encourage you to do is delve deeper. End of story."

_Who can argue with that sort of logic?_ Her tone was ironic, but I wasn't going to split hairs with it. Who, indeed?

I grinned and buried my nose in her hair. "I love your hair. I know it annoys you, but I wouldn't change it for anything. It's thick, and it falls into the most natural and beautiful curls at the bottom. And it's so full of color, Bella. It has the full spectrum of red and gold within the brown, and when the sun hits it... it's just glorious."

"And your face. Perfectly proportioned. Your eyes are wide and beautiful. Your cheekbones are high and beautiful. Your nose is straight and beautiful. Your lips are full and beautiful.

"You call yourself plain, but that must be because you don't see yourself very clearly. Bella, you are beautiful. The first moment I saw you, I didn't understand my attraction to you, but I knew you were beautiful. I could see it, and I knew it, and I've never wavered in that opinion."

_This is less a conversation and more a lecture._

"Did you have something you wanted to add?"

_I just... I get that you have the right to see me which ever way you want. And I'm glad you think I'm so pretty--_

"Beautiful," I interrupted, correcting her. "Say it."

She sighed. But then she tried to even think it, and she couldn't, not coherently. I narrowed my eyes. "Say it, out loud. Say it, Bella. Say, 'Edward thinks I'm beautiful.'" I knew she could do it. She'd done it before.

I leaned down, keeping her gaze in the mirror, leaning until I could whisper in her ear. _"The Beautiful Boy thinks I'm beautiful."_

I saw her face flush. _Did I... When you gave me the drawing... I... you... Of course you heard that. Of course. Shit._

I moved my head just slightly to kiss her ear before I straightened up again and continued my caress of her abdomen. "Say it, Bella. 'Edward thinks I'm beautiful.' Four words."

Her eyes darted all around as she mumbled the words.

I smiled. "Good. Excellent. Again. With feeling, and just a bit more volume."

"Edward thinks I'm beautiful," she muttered quickly, looking everywhere but at the mirror in front of us.

"Good," I encouraged. "Again."

"Edward thinks I'm beautiful," she said. She sounded bored. If only her heart weren't beating so strongly, I might have believed her.

"Good. Again."

"Edward thinks I'm beautiful." This time she smirked at me. Progress.

"Good, again."

She rolled her eyes and gave a genuine smile. "Edward thinks I'm beautiful," she said softly, her voice affecting a tone of explanation.

I smiled back at her. "You can hold whatever opinions you want, Bella, but never, never doubt my opinion on the subject. And the next time a voice echoes from your past and you are encouraged to think of yourself as plain, remember what I think. Remember what you felt as you first realized, looking at my page of little sketches. Remember this moment, here in front of this mirror. I don't just think you're beautiful. I know it. I've experienced your beauty first hand often enough to _know_."

_Well, I can't very well argue with that, I suppose._

I smiled at her in the mirror.

_You really like my tummy? Even though it's fat-- okay, okay, not fat,_ she said at hearing my growl.

"First, to answer your question, yes. I really like your tummy. Second, Bella - honestly, you have a long way to go before any part of your body, or your body considered as a whole, is fat. There is a modern mania about young women, no matter what their bodies look like, considering themselves not thin enough, and believe me - it's totally relative and utterly insane. You, my love, for instance, are at least ten pounds _underweight_, and you somehow believe you are on the verge of being fat. And you think that your belly's delicious curve that marks the placement of your uterus is something to be hidden and wished away." I tucked my fingers back underneath the waistband of her jeans so I could rub the area in question. "I really don't understand it, Bella."

She was biting her bottom lip, and it looked like she was about to cry. I leaned down and pressed my lips to the top of her head just as she wrenched herself around, turning in my arms. I held her as she clutched at the back of my shirt. She said nothing, but neither did she close the mental door she'd opened for me earlier in our conversation. She wasn't thinking of much as she cried, there was just the simple underlying misery of not feeling good enough. It wasn't rational, but it was definitely present. It wasn't, I realized, going to disappear when pitted with rational argument. I could only hope that constant adoration might help, as it was apparently the only thing I could provide.

***

"Tell me again how you intend to spend Christmas in Florida without telling Renee about... you know."

_I'm going to let you get this one, Edward,_ Bella thought at me, looking up from her government reading.

I glanced back from my dinner preparations to see Charlie leaning against the doorframe leading into the kitchen, arms crossed over his chest.

I returned my visual attention to the chopping of vegetables before me. I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to have this conversation with the pack, or members thereof, present, so it needed to happen quickly. Rarely did I cook at Charlie's house - which was five days a week, now, as Bella's hand healed - without having some wolf or other, usually one of our proto-in-laws, present also at the table.

"Renee doesn't know that I am what I am," I said, knowing Charlie preferred, all in all if we avoided the 'V' word. "But she does know that I'm not quite normal. There are a lot of talents and abilities that come part and parcel. She knows about a few of those, without understanding the larger context."

There was a pregnant moment of silence before Charlie responded to this. "Not gonna touch that with a ten foot pole."

And there was about ten feet between Charlie and I right now. I wondered if he realized.

"The point is that she already knows there are some peculiar things about me. I don't think we need to bring up the real reason I'll be avoiding sunlight."

"And the not-eating thing?"

I sighed. "I can eat. It's just a deeply unpleasant exercise, both going down and coming back up again, later. The entire process - eating, holding it in my stomach, and throwing it back up again later - it's just revolting. But I can do it."

Charlie snorted with laughter. "So I should expect a worried phone call in a week, asking about Bella's bulimic boyfriend?"

I shot him a dirty look over my shoulder before returning to my preparation. "I'll be as discreet as possible."

Charlie's laugh became even more pronounced. "There are a lot of things Renee doesn't pick up on, I'll give you that, but I don't think this is going to be one of them."

"She _is_ frighteningly intuitive. I've already noticed."

"Yup," Charlie confirmed.

"Getting to know you and Renee, I have to say, has been helpful in understanding Bella. She makes so much sense, in the context of you two."

"Watch it," Bella muttered, but not really paying attention. She was being studiously... studious, determined to finish as quickly as possible.

"It's a compliment, love," I replied calmly.

"So... you're just going to fake it, then?" Charlie asked.

"Lacking a better way forward, yes."

"Why don't you just tell her?"

Bella was listening very closely, now. I continued with my kitchen preparations.

"The less people who know, the better. Recall that we have broken the one true law we have in telling you about this. You are offered a high degree of protection, not only because we are very near by and can remain so for the duration of your life, if need be, but also because of your proximity and association with the Quileute wolves. They would, I feel certain, adopt you into the tribe if need be in order to safe guard you."

"Why would they need to do that? Isn't it good enough that I'm friends with them?"

"It's not really about friendship, though it should be. To know the secret or keep the secret because you are Quileute is something different, I would think, in the eyes of our enforcers, than to simply be a human who knows. Not that the enforcers know about the Quileutes, or would be particularly happy to find out about their existence, but the tribe has a power to enact a level of violence that is fatal to them, to us, as well as a mutual need to keep secrets that I think they would find highly respectable. Humans have no such power, individually, and outside of secret military operations, nor do they have a similar requirement of secrecy. It's an ugly truth, but a truth nonetheless.

"It's possible that if we told Renee and Phil quietly one day, and they never mentioned it again, it's possible that nothing would ever come from it. And the opposite is equally as possible. They are so far away, so unprotected that we would likely only know as a courtesy after the fact."

"Hunh." It was a moment before Charlie said anything else on the subject. "So... what happens when the twins are born? When it becomes obvious that Renee's grandchildren are every bit as special as her son-in-law? What about when her own daughter begins to change - or fails to change, as the case may be?"

I sighed. "I'm open to suggestion."

"And where are your enforcers on the subject of said children, or ones like them?"

I sighed again. "It's not clear to me that they know it's possible for such children to exist."

"You're joking, right?"

"No."

"These enforcers don't strike me as free-thinking, tree-hugging liberals open to new ideas and experiences, Edward. What happens when they find out?"

"We are hoping it doesn't come to that. Or, that it won't for some time - time enough that there is a history of normalcy to which we can appeal."

"That's a big 'if.'"

"Yes."

"But it's a chance you're willing to take."

"To have children with Bella? Absolutely. If push comes to shove, there are the wolves, and Carlisle has friends, a lot of friends all over the world that would come to our aid, or at least come and bear witness. And Alice and Jasper have been successful in Brazil - they've found one such child. An adult now, but we're going to go meet him in another ten days."

"If push comes to shove, I want to help," Charlie said in a low voice. "There's no way I will sit by and watch the people I care about face a danger without me."

I put the knife down and turned around, my hands on the counter by my hips as I leaned against it.

"Your heart is in the right place, Charlie Swan. You are noble, courageous, and incredibly self-sacrificing. Understand that the only way you can be of material assistance in this hypothetical situation isn't good for your long-term health, assuming you wish to remain a human being for the rest of your life. That is a decision not to be made lightly."

"Should this hypothetical come to pass, I fully expect you to tell me in enough time for me to make that decision," Charlie said quietly.

"Dad!" Bella sounded scandalized.

"No, Bella. I respect that you make your choices, and I support you in them, regardless of my own opinions on the subject. You need to give me the same courtesy."

I watched as Bella got up, walked to her father and gave him a fiercely strong hug, her arms around his midsection, her head against his shoulder.

"You don't have to do that, Dad. We don't know if it will even come to that." Her voice was muffled, but still audible.

"Remains to be seen," was all he would say.

I heard them in the forest, approaching. "Jake and Leah are coming," I said quietly, pleasantly, knowing that we were already within their hearing, and knowing too that father and daughter would need a moment to collect themselves.

Bella wordlessly went back to her homework, Charlie got a beer for himself before retreating to the baseball game that had been progressing quietly in the background, and I to my food preparation. We were all unusually subdued that night.

***

The rest of the family, minus Rose and Emmett who were staying behind, had already left by the time I picked up Bella at Charlie's house. I had the cloth hammock, sleeping bag, and a change or two of clothes for myself, plus a quantity amount of dried food for Bella in my bag, but it was largely for show. Renee knew we'd be going to South America to join my family directly from Florida and it would have looked very strange in deed if I showed up with next to no luggage. In truth, I'd be carrying Bella. Esme would be carrying my pack and Leah would be combining hers with Bella's. Carlisle carried more food, provisions for Bella and Leah, and medical supplies - quite a lot of medical supplies, just in case.

We drove the Vanquish, but didn't leave Charlie's house quite as quickly as I would have guessed.

"So. It's really not Carlisle's car, is it?"

I smirked. There were moments when it was nice that he was in the know, even over such trivial matters as this. "Carlisle couldn't care less what he drives, so long as it has tinted windows."

I walked with Charlie out to the sports car, taking Bella's bag with me. She was still in the kitchen, pouring coffee into her travel mug. I unlocked the trunk and stowed her bag. There was just enough room.

"When we return, you should take it for a spin."

"Maybe I will," Charlie said. Then he extended his hand to me. I shook it as he spoke quietly. "Take care of her, Edward. Don't let her fall into piranha infested rivers, or get bitten by some exotic snake, okay?"

"My life before hers," I answered quietly.

I drove as quickly as I ever did, though to do so I had to be out of Bella's head entirely, watching out for speed traps. It gave a different quality to our conversation. Whether she meant to or not, Bella most certainly censored herself when she spoke. On the whole I approve of this sort of thing - thinking before you speak, but I missed Bella Uncensored. I told her so. She only laughed and changed the music.

We arrived at SeaTac Airport and checked our luggage and went through security in plenty of time. I had no carry on luggage and Bella only her purse, so there was nothing to juggle or watch as we walked up and down the terminal. Bella informed me that she would be sitting for a long time, soon enough, so now we walked. We paused to get her a salad and some water, we paused for her to use the restroom, but mostly we walked until First Class seating was called for our flight.

When she held my hand, reaching out to me with her left, that was when I finally noticed. She must have done it while she was in the restroom and true to form she either hadn't been thinking about it, or she was compartmentalizing and shielded me from the information. Either way, I noticed she was wearing her engagement and wedding rings. I couldn't wipe the stupid grin off my face, and when I looked up at her, she was smirking a little. Her eyes darted to where my own ring was hidden beneath my shirt, and faster than I should have, given that we weren't entirely alone in the mobile tunnel leading out to the aircraft, I took the chain from around my neck. I quickly unfastened it, took the ring off, then refastened it. I put the chain in my pocket and slipped the ring on my finger.

Bella pressed a tiny kiss into my palm, right over my ring.

We hastened to our seats in the First Class cabin and one didn't need to be a telepath to realize that the flight attendants believed us to be the newlyweds that we were. They all thought we were adorable - one didn't have to have particularly acute hearing to apprehend that, either.

Still, before we were even airborne I could practically hear Bella's metabolism slowing again. It would not be long before she was asleep again. I shifted toward her once we were strapped in, once the attendants were assured that there was nothing more we needed for our comfort, and brushed her hair back from her ear.

"It's a long flight, love. You can take another nap." I smiled ruefully. This was a subject I had managed to avoid up until now. "You really don't get enough sleep as it is. You should get at least seven hours, if not more, and you usually don't even get six."

"Sleep, shmeep," she said quietly before finishing the sentiment silently. _One more year and I won't be sleeping much at all. Or, at all, really._

I frowned at her. "It's not a year from now yet. It's now. And now you need sleep." I took up her hand in mine and kissed the back of it, rubbing her knuckles past my lips again, again, and again. "I've been too selfish," I said in an even quieter voice. This much had become ever more apparent to me. I thought in the very beginning of our relationship that I had wanted her continuously, but at that point, back then, I really had no idea what the true qualities of continuous desire really were.

I did, now.

My libido - or if you will, my desperate need for Bella - was only getting stronger as the weeks passed, whereas Bella had hit the plateau of what her body could physically accommodate rather early on in our relationship. Even so, I pushed beyond where I knew I ought to go far too often. Several times a week I drew a hot bath, not for the sheer luxury of it, but to soak her tired and worn muscles. I had started studying the art of massage not for the purposes of foreplay, but aftercare.

I've often thought that there was nothing I would not do for Bella (with the one notable exception of naming our children Renesmee and Carlie), but lately I've begun to wonder if that wasn't more of a noble rhetoric designed for the dramatic martyrdom of large and unnecessary gestures, and indeed a gesture in and of itself designed to forego the necessity of meeting halfway on everything else - the mundane things, the little things, the everyday things that are the stuff of life, the stuff of relationships.

There are ways in which I know Bella is not inclined to take care of herself. She forgets to eat and I fail to remind her. She goes without sleep that I know she requires. And yet, the times she is not eating, the times she is not sleeping, is she not with me? If _I _was the one needing sleep, needing to eat, I have no doubt that she would be the first one in line to make sure that _I _got what _I _needed.

My body can go without significant pause for much longer than hers can. I know this. Still I push her.

Dear God. If I were the one of us needing sleep or needing to eat every six hours she _would_ _absolutely_ be making sure I got what I needed. But no, what I need - what I've been very clear about needing has been intimacy, if not the constant sex I crave, then at the very least a constant closeness with the option for marathon sex whenever possible. Even so, we hardly ever go more than eighteen hours without something, some intimate moment with orgasmic outcomes for both of us. It's what I need and she's _always_ given it to me.

I sighed and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. It was very clearly time for me to be the bigger man, so to say.

_Edward... what?_

I looked up at her, confused.

_What?_

"Huh?" I finally vocalized. I had no idea what she was asking about. I felt like I was only getting half the picture. Maybe she was accidentally compartmentalizing?

_You've got that look on your face. Like you've just gone to the dark place and back again, and you've come to some unilateral decision that I'm going to hate on principle. __So I'm asking you: what happened, what you were thinking, what decision you've come to, and why on earth you felt the need to decide something for the both of us without consulting me. Again. You've really got to stop pulling that shit, Edward, by the way. It is __**not**__ going to fly in this quarter. So, what? And, do you need your journal? I've got it in my purse._

I could, I judged, speak softly enough such that our conversation remained private. I shook my head to indicate that I didn't need the journal.

"I don't think that I've made a unilateral decision..." I thought about that just briefly. "Well, okay. I suppose I have."

_Yeah, I thought so._

"It would be alright with me if you weren't smug about this, Bella," I said wryly.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. _You're in my head and you claim you want to hear me uncensored. I happened to be right in this particular instance. If you want to have your cake and eat it too, you're going to have to deal with the frosting of my choice. So deal with it, already._

Well, she had a point, there. I still wished she wasn't feeling smug and justified. Mostly I wished this because I really didn't want to make these so-called unilateral decisions. I swear I don't do it on purpose. She was absolutely justified in her response, I only wish she had no cause to be justified at all.

"It dawns on me, my love, that once again your loving, giving, and self-sacrificing nature trumps my own."

She raised an eyebrow at me. _I seriously doubt that, but do continue. I look forward to seeing how this makes sense for you._

I frowned at her. "I need you to keep an open mind. I could be wrong, but so could you. If you don't keep an open mind we won't be able to figure out some kind of middle ground, Bella." I frowned further and spoke even more quietly. "I can't do this without you, love. Please keep an open mind and help me figure this out."

Her face showed her contrition. _I'm sorry. I don't mean to be a bitch about it. I guess I'm just used to reeling you back in. You must admit that in the past there have been one or two times in which you've taken a single thought or idea and played it out to what seemed to you to be its logical conclusion, but that was, in reality... well... not so much. And yet, yes, I concede that there are plenty of times you've brought up a very good point that we've both had to work through. So, okay. I'm self-sacrificing and you're not. What makes you say that?_

"There are certain things you need. I mean, a physical need - proper amounts of food, of sleep - and you may argue that you don't, or that it is optional, but Bella, I have studied the human body enough to know that we can think it's optional all we like but our thoughts on the subject change nothing. Enough sleep isn't optional. Enough food at the proper times isn't optional. And you're not doing that. You're not taking care of yourself, and instead of taking care of you, helping you to take care of yourself, I've been enabling you. I've been taking and taking and taking. We, as a couple, have been negligent of your needs and... meanwhile... we're doing everything possible to meet mine."

_What do you mean, meet yours?_

"Sex."

Her face clouded over with her confusion.

_Are you implying that you're the only one in this relationship who requires sex?_

My brows furrowed. "No, of course not."

_I've never complained about the sex we have - quality or quantity. I hope you don't think I have. And if I've ever given the impression of it, please be assured that humor was probably involved._

I closed my eyes in frustration and sighed. I had no idea how to express this idea with any degree of tact or gentility. "You don't have to say it, Bella. You don't even have to think it. Your body says it for you. I can see that you're worn out."

Bella snorted. _Worn out? What planet are you from?_

"Bella," I said, my tone begging her to acknowledge the obvious.

_Okay, okay. I wouldn't call it 'worn out,' but yes I get your point. And while I'm absolutely fine with the amount of food I eat, thank you __**very**__ much, I agree that I could use more sleep in my life. But I am absolutely not willing to give up the amount of sex we have, so we're going to have to work something out here. But __I wouldn't mind an extra hour or two of sleep. Two, really, if I'm being honest._

I leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Thank you for being honest."

_Does this mean no more massages? Because I was really getting to like that part. And I was serious about the sex. I get the feeling that you have some misguided and outdated notion that you want more sex than I do._

I stopped her there, my finger over her lips. Despite the fact that she wasn't using them to communicate, it paused her thoughts. "Bella, my mind processes at something like ten times the speed yours does, and I can think with perfect clarity even when my attention is completely divided eight different ways. Also, I never sleep. Please, please, I'm begging you, take it for granted that I think about sex, and thus want sex more often than you. It may only be a product of our different natures, but it is _absolutely_ part of our reality right now."

I watched as she digested that.

_So it's not a gender thing?_

"No," I confirmed softly.

_It's a vampire-human thing?_

Ontology, absolutely. I nodded.

_But I really want you, Edward. I swear I do. Its... I mean... It's hard to explain. I mean, I'm not always thinking about it, like thoughts that you'd hear, I think, but it's... I mean, it's always there. Like, it's always this thing that's always there, heavy in my chest, right here,_ she said, pausing to rub over her sternum with the fingertips of her free hand. _When we're not together, there's this pulling. It's really uncomfortable. And when we are together, it's like two magnets that are attracted to each other, but just in the moment before they touch, that moment when they're practically pulling your hands together in their effort to touch. That's what it feels like when I'm near you. And sometimes when we touch, it's enough. Just a touch. Just a little touch, something to tide me over, but it's always very clear to me that it is just that. Something to tide me over, because Edward I don't have words for how wrong it feels to go without you for too long. And by 'you' I mean your hands all over me, lips and fingers and skin on skin and all of the wonderful, amazing, and completely heartfelt expressions of your very physical passion for me. And Edward, that is always there. I mean, it's not something I think about, but that doesn't mean it isn't always right there, right here,_ she said, rubbing her fingertips over her sternum again, _always, always, in every conscious moment. This vampire mating thing - you're not in it alone, you know. And if it's like this for me, I can only imagine what it must be like for you with your enhanced everything._

She looked pained for a moment then, and was silent.

_Oh, God, Edward. It must be so hard for you -- oh, shit. I meant difficult. I'm sorry - I wasn't trying to be coy, or a bitch. But seriously, Edward. I can barely stand what I'm going through. How on earth are you withstanding this, Edward? I mean... oh, Edward._

Her tone was filled with remorse.

"I didn't bring this up to make you feel badly, Bella."

She rolled her eyes at me. "No, you brought it up to play the martyr and I'm not letting you," she whispered back, a tiny grin on her face. _I'm not conceding on the eating thing and you can't possibly convince me that we're having too much sex. I'm enjoying myself far too much for it to be __**too**__ much and be assured: if I feel at some point that it is too much you will be the first to know because I'll let you know in no uncertain terms. But yes, more sleep would be nice._

I brought her hand up to kiss again. "Then perhaps we should take this opportunity for you to recline your seatback and do just that."

She grinned at me. "Get me a blanket and let me cuddle up next to you, and you've got a deal, Mr. Cullen."

My lips twitched as I reached up to press the indicator for the attendant. Before Bella could recline her seat one was at our side.

"Could I get a blanket for my wife, please?" I inquired softly. I knew that look - obvious newlywed or not, the attendant was thinking things about me I was glad not to know.

By the time the attendant returned, the armrest between us was only a memory, both of our seats were reclined, and Bella was snuggled up next to me, half in my large seat, half in hers. The attendant helped me to tuck her in, and Bella was asleep before seventy of her breaths had passed.

A small part of me was envious. I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing, telling myself I was doing so only to savor her presence, but even I knew it was a lie.

***

It smelled like Brazil.

The moment that the doors of the plane were released, that was the first thought in my head. The only tropical or subtropical place I'd ever been to was Brazil, and always enroute to Isle Esme. It was something about the smell of the native plants, the type of soil, and the salt water. Even though the sun had already set by the time the plane landed, and even though it was three days before Christmas, the smell was still pervasive. I quite liked it. I wondered what Arizona would smell like.

I held Bella's hand as we deplaned and walked into the terminal. It wasn't a long walk to get back through security again, but it still gave Bella time to wake up and stretch out her tired muscles. I was content as we went, cradled in Bella's mind, no less amused by her random trains of thought sparked off by sights around her in the airport than I had about her anxiety dreams on the plane.

I spotted Renee before Bella, and before she saw us. The resemblance of Bella to her mother was quite sharp - more than was alluded to in Bella's dreams. It was always interesting to me how different people and situations were, filtered through memories and perceptions of others, versus how I saw the same things, filtered through _my_ perceptions.

Bella, for instance, seemed only to see the ways in which she was different from her mother. The only things that stood out for me were the ways in which they were the same.

The same shade of hair, the same weight and type, though not the same length - Renee kept her hair shorter, but I was willing to bet that if she grew it out, there would be the same curls at the end. Their faces were the same shape, like a heart, with lips unbalanced, and yet somehow perfect anyway. They had the same eyes, the same shape, the same placement - the particular way the lids closed, the length of lashes, all the same though Renee's eye color was two shades lighter than Bella's. Of course, Renee looked slightly older than her thirty-six years, but she seemed to wear the years well. Her skin was a golden hue that Bella assured me her own skin could never attain. Bella in too much sun apparently goes straight from white to lobster. Her words.

Their stature was similar, and their shape too, though Renee had the weight I wish Bella would gain. From this distance, Renee looked to be an inch or so taller than Bella, but that might not be the case.

Bella knew I'd be half in and half out of her head when we met Renee, but I squeezed her hand gently and when she looked at me I grinned down at her.

"Do you know," I said softly, "that this is the first time I've walked through a busy airport without wanting to lose my mind?"

She grinned at me. "We just came from an airport, Edward," she reminded me. _SeaTac doesn't count now?_

I grinned and shrugged. "It wasn't that crowded this afternoon. And this airport is quite crowded this evening." It was quite late, given the seven hour flight and the three hour time difference. Still, there were several hundred people around us.

She smiled at me. _I'm glad to be of service. You stay with me, then, huh?_

My smile grew wider. "Just try to get rid of me," I said, and leaned down mid-stride to kiss her cheek.

_Oh! Renee! Edward-- Renee and Phil!_ And then Bella wasn't thinking but neither had she closed a mental door on me. The texture of her mind was still rich and complex and her hand squeezed mine. I looked up again and focused on Renee as I took half a step out of Bella's mind.

_--looks so grown up! And Edward is every bit as gorgeous as she said. I wonder if we got the right kind of food for him. He's not small; I bet he eats just as much as I remember teenage boys eating - everything in sight. It so sad that he's allergic to so much. He's so pale -- Bella never mentioned that they both look like they've been living under a rock, for heaven's sake. I wonder if Bella will like my rock garden. All native plants. That's so important. It's so late, they must be so tired, such a long day for them. I hope their flight was okay. I bet they're hungry. Bella would be so proud of me - I prepared dinner ahead so they would have something to eat when they got in. Well, Phil reminded me, but still. She'd still be proud of me. I'm so proud of __**her!**__ Look at her, hand in hand with her new husband. The pictures didn't do him justice. I never thought she'd get married so young, but after all she's told me, I wouldn't have held back if I were in her shoes--_

There was a sweetness to Renee's inner commentary that I found disarming. We were met and greeted, and Bella introduced me to her mother and step-father, and all the while I listened to both mother and daughter, easily following both of their lines of thought, as well as the audible dialogue. I watched as Renee swept Bella up into the longest, most physically encompassing hug I'd ever seen anyone bestow on my wife. Bella, my dear, sweet don't-touch-me-if-you're-not-Edward Bella seemed only to relish it.

Phil and I engaged in small talk and I held up my end of the conversation with ease and charm, all the while most of my attention was with the two women who walked directly in front of us arm in arm toward the baggage claim. Phil and I shouldered our bags once I located them and we made our way out to their car, parked in the garage.

Renee was describing to Bella her latest belly dancing class in great detail - her impressions of the instructor as well as her fellow students, the zen and sensuality of it, and how she accidentally strained a muscle. Bella was just soaking it all in.

"So how did you and Bella meet?"

I knew that Phil had at least heard an abbreviated version, but I answered all the same. It was a novel exercise to do so - I couldn't imagine wanting or having the opportunity to answer this sort of question to anyone else.

"Her first day in school at Forks, we saw one another in the cafeteria." I shrugged. What was the best, non-obsessive, utterly human way to describe this? "It only took one look and we were both sunk. As I got to know her, I only fell more deeply in love with her. Our first date was that first night."

"How did you ask her to marry you? She's never told us."

Bella had heard Phil's question, and though her glance back at us was brief, she was _very _interested in hearing my response. I grinned as I put my bag in the trunk and then walked over to Bella so I could open her door. She paused in front of the open door just as Renee and Phil had paused in their movements. Everyone waited for my response.

I answered Phil, but my eyes didn't leave Bella's.

"We had gone for a walk in the woods that evening after dinner. Mid-conversation I tackled her to the ground and begged her to marry me. She agreed."

"You didn't," Phil deadpanned.

_That was a highly edited version. And that wasn't all you begged for that night,_ Bella thought wryly.

_I bet I know what happened after she said yes,_ Renee thought.

I grinned and responded to Phil. "It worked," I pointed out, nodding to Bella to indicate that she ought to enter the car. The sooner she did, the sooner I could, the sooner we could cuddle in the back. Bella, being the smart woman she was, not only got in, but put on the seat belt for the center seat, allowing us to get very close indeed. I had one arm around her shoulders and one hand on her upper thigh.

Renee wanted to know all about the Vegas wedding, even though she'd grilled Bella over the phone the week after it had occurred.

Over dinner, Renee wanted to know all about my telepathy, which I was more than happy to be verbose about, considering that it was easier to seem normal while eating very little when one is talking continuously.

After dinner, Renee wanted to know about our plans for the future. We lied a lot during this conversation, and I knew it cost Bella dearly to do so. I could see how uncomfortable Bella was, and her mother was picking up on it, though she gave no outward indication of it. Quickly I gave a reason, observing that Bella seemed tired, and that perhaps we ought to go to sleep. Of course, Bella seemed nothing of the sort, and in fact had slept most of the day, but it was the best I could come up with.

Renee was a gracious host then and we each had a glass of water and a stack of towels in the guest room we were sharing. I listened in as Renee pulled Bella aside and quietly reminded her of the standing permission we had to be as loud as we needed to be in the night. Renee was still hoping it would inspire Phil to be slightly more inventive in the bedroom. Bella again urged her mother to simply talk to her husband before walked into our room and pushed the door nearly closed.

Our eyes met from across the room.

"Edward," she said, sighing my name. "Alone. We're alone. We haven't been alone for a while."

It had been sixteen hours since I'd left our shared bed in Charlie's house. We'd been alone in the car, but Bella had slept through most of it. It was eleven o'clock at night, here on the East Coast. It wasn't as though I'd been denied physical contact for all that time, but I was still approaching my limit of what simple physical contact could satisfy, and so was Bella.

I was on the other side of the room in the blink of an eye.

Bella tasted exquisite. Behind her jaw, up to her ear, then sucking and growling as I pulled her tight to me, my lips slowly moving across her face to find her own.

"Does this feel weird?" Bella whispered to me, her lips brushing up against mine as I closed the bedroom door behind us and wrapped my arms around her. She'd gotten used to speaking aloud. It was interesting to me how much more she spoke here, than in the State of Washington. It had to be Renee's influence. That woman was energy in human form_._

Before I could answer her, Bella's mind was off and running. Just because she was more verbose didn't mean she thought any _less._

_I mean, your family hears us all the time, but you know, even though that's totally freakish and weird to me, I can totally see how that's just par for the course for you guys. Blah-blah, Bella and Edward broke the headboard again, blah-blah, what are you going to cook the boys for dinner tomorrow, Emmett? But that is not what __**this**__ is. This is some weird voyeurism thing. And I mean, it's Renee and Phil, for heaven's sake. I mean, I get that she wants to spice up their sex life, but I'm just not entirely certain I want us to take a place in his porn collection. __I mean, not like filmed or anything. Don't give me that look, Edward. We're not filming anything. That's not what I meant. I meant... Oh god, I don't know what I meant. Never mind. Don't you need to go and throw up or something?_

I raised an eyebrow and continued brushing tiny kisses across her lips. She responded by licking me.

_You taste like chicken fingers. I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I know cooked meat is like, grosser than gross. We should have said you were on a raw diet, or something._

I just kept kissing her.

_So, are you going to wait until everyone's asleep to bring it all back up again? That would make sense, I guess._

"Mmm-hmm," I confirmed just before bringing my tongue out tentatively to meet hers. As a matter of fact, I didn't particularly enjoy the feeling of dinner sitting so heavily in my stomach any more than I liked the taste of it on my tongue. Sadly, the taste of toothpaste had proven only slightly better. The good news was that I knew one thing that would utterly wipe out the horrendous taste in my mouth, and it was beating an erotic tattoo through my love's veins even now. I wouldn't take so much as to actually mix with the vile mush in my gut; just enough to cleanse the palate...

I closed my eyes and groaned loudly. I didn't give a single care for what might or might not have been running through the minds of our hosts as I was perfectly embedded in the mind of my... everything. My everything. She was my everything - lover, wife, partner, best friend, mate, solace and source of challenge. Soft and cool, close and quiet - so, so quiet, gentle, like floating in the water, like music that beckons me closer then wraps around me, filling my senses, was my Bella, my love.

We had the permission - nay, _blessing_ - of our hosts to be as vocal and acrobatic as we liked during our time alone, and I for one was not going to look this gift horse in the mouth. I sucked Bella's lower lip into my mouth for a moment before releasing it and whispering into her open mouth.

"Your mother already has all of the details of our sex life. I'm frankly surprised you didn't give her my measurements."

_How do you know I didn't?_ she asked, as I took a breath. I growled in response and smelled her own reaction to it. I smirked at her.

"So we do what we do best, only we pretend we're all alone," I reasoned.

She snorted at me. _Right. Are you telling me you're not remotely tempted to be even louder than normal? Not even a little bit?_

I raised an eyebrow. As a matter of fact, I was considering that it might help Phil if we were a little more descriptive than normal, but the fact that Bella asked the question meant that it was on her radar screen as well. I decided to skip playing coy and simply nodded.

"Thought we might give them a play-by-play, actually. Purely out of the goodness of our hearts, mind."

"Naturally," she said softly, rolling her eyes. I just grinned at her.

"Are you somehow implying, love, that you don't feel like having sex tonight? You know all you have to do is say something." I knew full well this wasn't the case, but I wanted to move beyond this, and quickly.

She sighed loudly and rolled her eyes again. _No, you silly man, of course I want to have sex with you. Duh. I just don't want to have sex for Phil._

Put like that I couldn't help but understand her reticence. Suddenly, I had an idea. Without realizing it, my grin grew.

_What... Edward. __**Edward. You have that LOOK, Edward.**_"What are you _**thinking**_?" she demanded of me in a whisper.

"If Renee wants a show, then I think we should give them a show. And then we can have very quiet sex afterwards."

Bella's slow smile eventually took over her entire face. _I __**LOVE**__ the way your mind works!_ She had imagined in her head more or less what I had conceived of in my own: all things aural, as if we were sitting side by side doing a radio show of two people having sex. I had one hand on the end of the bed and was repeatedly shoving it into the wall while she occasionally bounced on it, like I had seen three year olds do in TV commercials.

Bella's grin was taking on sinister and epic proportions. "Unnngh, _Edward!" _she groaned out slowly and really quite loudly.

I grinned in return and shifted with Bella so we could dance to the music in my head. We began to slowly sway - no particular dance just yet. I moaned and uttered a sharp, "_Fuck!" _Barring changes from Bella, I had a place to which I wanted this drama to go. Several, actually.

Bella moaned with her mouth closed which played perfectly into my plans.

I started softly, but got increasingly louder as I progressed with my lines. "Oh, Bella," I said, making sure to allow my voice to catch periodically as I went on. "Oh, yes, just like --oh _fuck_!-- like that, just like that." I made my breathing harsh, but I was starting to get louder now. I groaned long and loud.

Bella moaned again, but as she went to open her mouth to say something, I touched one fingertip to her lips, even as I gasped out, "Bella! Yes! Suck harder, _oh fuck!"_

Bella's face scrunched up in her attempt to giggle without sound and I held her as we swayed around the room. I just grinned down at her and waited for her to come back to herself, and me.

"Oh, Baby," Bella said. _Trust me! _"You've been drinking cranberry juice, haven't you?" _I've heard that makes a guy's, well, you know, a human guy's erm, ejaculate, um, taste good. Or, at least okay-ish._

I raised an eyebrow and wondered where she'd heard this. Come to think of it, that was probably from Renee.

"Oh, Edward, you taste so good baby. I want you to come in my mouth."

The look on her face was priceless. She really was trying, I'll give her that, but acting was not her forte. She sounded like the bad porn we watched together over the summer. I raised an eyebrow and she shrugged at me. _Come on, give me a break. I'm trying. It's all for a good cause, right?_

I conceded her point with a flick of my brow. She did have one, after all. I groaned loudly and went with it.

Bella and I moaned and groaned some more as we danced before Bella silently reminded me that normal men probably didn't get blow jobs for as long as I did, and so was persuaded to wrap it up.

I came to a spectacular release, or so it would have seemed from the other side of the door, and Bella stopped dancing to applaud silently. I gave her a bow before kissing her silently. I have to say that all of the play acting didn't do much to diminish the actual hardness buried beneath my clothes.

_Ooo, is that for me? _Bella asked when she pressed back up against me. I decided to answer her out loud.

"Oh, Bella. _Ungh, Bella! _You make me so _hard." _I groaned loudly. I had a feeling that loud groaning was going to get us through this night intact. "Oooh, but now it's _your_ turn." I danced us to the door and then leaned heavily against it, making the particular thudding sound that can only be produced by the weight distribution of a solid body contacting it. I shifted away and put one hand to the door, pushing up against it rhythmically, raising one eyebrow to Bella. It was her turn to say something interesting.

"Edward?" she asked in a breathy tone that made me grin. It was as if I was doing something to her physically - or, really, sexually - that she wasn't quite certain about. She then cried out in a way I'd never yet heard. They were simple 'Oh!'s, but yet they had a certain shocked, pleasured and breathy tone to them. I raised my eyebrow and gave her a look. How come I'd never heard her make that noise for me in a genuine fashion? She gave me a wry grin and shrugged her shoulders. I shoved the door again and growled at her. She gasped appropriately. I leaned in and pressed my lips against her shoulder to muffle the sound.

"Fuck, Bella, you taste so good."

"Hey," Bella protested in a breathy manner, tugging my head away from her neck. "Get back to work down there. No one said you could take a break." Then she did that shocked, pleasured, breathy thing again.

I was getting jealous of our role play.

Bella continued to moan and whine with my name interspersed for good measure as I groaned and shoved my hand against the door.

This continued on in the same vein for quite some time before Bella cozied up to me and wrapped one leg around my hip, then her arms around my neck. Then she tightened her arms and hopped. I caught her and held her tight as she wrapped her other leg around my waist. I raised an eyebrow in question, but the answer was immediately forthcoming.

_I needed inspiration._ Then she threw her head back and for all the world simulated what sounded like a stellar orgasm. I leaned back against the door and smacked one hand lightly on its surface to simulate Bella doing the same.

Game or no game, this was more or less exactly how I wanted Bella, and it was just a good thing that we had clothes on, or I would test right here and now her willingness to have actual sex at whatever volume she choose. I think she might have seen this resolve in my eyes.

_I'm sorry, baby. I didn't meant to tease you. We can stop._

I growled at her. "And what if I want to fuck you, hard and loud?" I asked her in a whisper. "What if I want to throw you down to the bed, rip your clothes off and take you from behind? What if I want to hear you scream my name when you come over and over again? Does that make me wrong, Bella? Does that make me _dirty?"_

I watched as she whimpered and licked her lips. Her breathing was coming to her more shallowly now and her eyes were dilated.

"Are you wet for me, Bella?" I growled. "You know this monster wants to gorge himself, to wallow in your scent, to rut in your heat, and to come to the taste of your blood on his tongue."

_Edward. Should we... I... Don't you think... I mean... What we started... finish, finish, um... tell me more._

I groaned and stopped whispering. "Don't you want to feel my cock buried deep inside of you, my sweet little bunny? Don't you want to squeeze me tight? Don't you want to hear me _beg?"_ I groaned again then, realizing I'd found my map to the promised land.

"Oh, God, Bella, _please! Please let me come inside of you! _I want to come. I _need_ to come." I was kneading her rear as I held her up, slowing walking her the short distance to the bed. I now no longer cared what position we made it to, so long as there was my cock in her pussy, well-lubricated, thrusting wildly, getting squeezed and hitting all the right places.

"Edward," she sighed.

I tried to get her clothes off without ripping them - it would be a pain to have to go shopping at this point - but I found the endeavor frustrating and ended up cursing her clothes instead, which only made her giggle.

"Naked. Now." It was all I could manage to say on the subject.

Bella regained her legs and I was stripped naked before she was, but she was close on my heels in that respect. I tackled her gently to the bed, but still we bounced and made a racket.

_So that's it, huh? We're not going to be quiet._

"_You_ can be quiet if you want," I said, my voice half a growl as I at first gently probed a fingertip to check and make sure she was wet, then more roughly shoved two fingers inside of her when I found she was. She gasped audibly at my actions. "But _I _intend to make noise. Not for anyone's benefit other than my own, though. And you, of course. We're married. We're in love. We're definitely in lust. Everyone in this house knows it. There is no reason to hide the fact that I want you hard and long and loud and _right fucking now."_

I snarled as I pushed myself into her roughly, relatively, but never losing my control. My grin was feral when I heard her do the shocked, pleasurable breathy thing. _Yes. MY bunny._

I spoke to her, telling her how beautiful she was, how good she felt, how good she always felt, how much I loved her, how much I was going to love doing this to her for the rest of our very long lives.

Our environment was loud - the bed was squeaking and making noise as it shoved against the wall and yes, as Renee had hoped, our performance had duly inspired her husband and I could hear that with perfect clarity - but I really didn't give a damn. Bella was incoherent in thought and word, though she lacked nothing in volume, moaning and groaning her pleasure. Occasionally her mind seemed to surface enough to form my name, but I was beginning to wonder if saying the word 'Edward' itself hadn't somehow become a less than conscious ability, a simple reflex reaction to pleasurable stimuli provided by myself.

I'd have to give that some thought, later. Definitely later.

Bella had slept nearly the entire day. That's how I justified it to myself. That's how I justified, even after wallowing in the guilt of not taking proper care of her, not letting her get enough sleep, that's how I justified making sweet, long, loud, hard love with her until four in the morning. Still, Renee herself wasn't up until eleven the next morning, and when she peeked in on us I requested just a little bit longer. She silently granted my request, but not before smirking. Still, Bella got eight solid hours of sleep that night. I refused to begin the process of waking her up until she had eight hours to the minute.

***

**End Note:** So. What is your opinion of the chapter? Alice and Edward are keeping your secrets for you, so if I'm going to know, it's going to need to happen because you let your fingers do the talking, starting with clicking on those green words below...


	35. Diamond & Moonstone

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

***

**Book Two:** One More Year 'Til Forever  
**Chapter 12: **Diamond & Moonstone  
**Beta:** Colleen P., who consistently amuses me by calling Edward 'Sparkles' in that snarky tone of voice. I love that. She tethers me to the ground when I get too romantic. :)  
**Author's Note: **Okay. I will admit to a blatant author insertion, a Mary Sue, if you will. I bet you can find it.

***

I had my hand gently rubbing her abdomen when I heard the thought.

_Do you really like my tummy? No. Shut up. Don't ask. Don't... don't answer. You don't have to answer._

And then I felt the door close in her mind. It was so subtle that if I hadn't known exactly what I was looking for I might never have noticed, but I did know, so I did notice.

"Bella," I called to her quietly as I snuggled closer to her underneath the covers. I pressed the long expanse of my skin to hers, from knee to chest. "Why don't you open that door back up and I'll tell you exactly what I think of your tummy."

Belly. Tummy. Before Bella I would have scoffed at calling that section of the body anything but the abdomen, as the other terms seemed so juvenile and diminutive, but now they didn't quite seem that way to me. They simply seemed... softer, less clinical, more personal. Bella's tummy was a wonderful phrase to me.

She groaned a little. "You noticed that, huh?" she said, her early morning voice cracking. _Geez, I have no secrets anymore._

My laugh was nearly silent as I took no offense from her words. "I learn quickly, or haven't you noticed?" I whispered.

She snorted softly. _Oh, I've noticed alright. You learn quickly, and you don't limit yourself to one subject area, either. I'm sort of surprised you haven't started in on the Kama Sutra yet._

I grinned. "Do you think I should?"

She snickered, but then thought again of the door. With a deep breath, I felt it open again. She wasn't thinking anything in particular, but the background thoughts from that 'room' in her mind were all negative, disparaging, an irrational cycle of off-putting thoughts. If this was normal for our mainstream culture, which I suspected it was given how familiar these thoughts were for me despite the fact that I'd never given the time over to thinking much on the subject, then our entire culture was deeply flawed and doing a great disservice to fully half of our population.

Still, I desperately wanted to change her opinion on the subject, but I had no concrete way to go forward. It was obvious to me that telling her she was wrong was not going to be helpful in the long or short term. I got the feeling that her opinions hadn't formed quickly and that it may be that they wouldn't un-form or reform quickly.

The only thing that seemed right to me was to be expressive, which admittedly was not always my first inclination, our sexual relationship aside.

"You know," I whispered to her, my hand on her belly in constant, gentle motion. "Your tummy was the very first part of your body that I decided I could spend a year worshiping."

_Oh you've got to be kidding me._

"No, honest. I'll grant you, this was before I became better acquainted with your breasts, with whom I am now great friends, and this was before I became intimately acquainted with your pussy, for whom you know I have a great fondness and affection."

Bella was laughing, and I had my own small grin, but I continued.

"Now, when I say 'spend a year worshipping,' I really do mean a mostly uninterrupted year, pausing once every two or three weeks to hunt a bit before getting back to the serious business of worshiping said tummy. And I will admit that I my thoughts were somewhat obsessive on the subject at the time, and though I have broadened my horizons when it comes to fantasies, I happily admit that I admire your lovely belly no less now than I did then. Now, while I admit that I cannot spend an uninterrupted year _right now_ doing this, I'd be happy to start my oft-interrupted year of worshipping this beautiful little patch of your body right here, and right now."

Bella snickered. _By all means, please do._

I groaned and pushed my hardened length against her, between our bodies and was utterly gratified when she slipped her top leg up and back, over my thigh. I shivered. I couldn't imagine anything I wanted more, than to be inside of her in all the delicious ways I could while I did this. I shifted slightly so that I had the tip just inside. Bella arched her back and I groaned as I slid within her tight space that I had only just recently gotten to its present juicy and delicious stage the old fashioned way - with my tongue. Really, it was the only valid way to wake Bella up in the morning - or afternoon, if you will.

I pushed myself as fully in as I could from this position and Bella began to rhythmically squeeze my cock, clenching her muscles in a slow ripple. Three slow, rippling clenches, then a sharp tight squeeze that only released bit by bit before she started it all over again. I shivered and ground myself into her, all the while trying to focus. Normally I could completely multitask eight different things, but during sex with Bella I could barely handle two, so consumed was I usually with Bella herself. It was just so _good._

_I'm sorry, did I distract you? You were going to say something nice about my tummy, I think._

I growled, and not softly, as I remembered exactly where I'd wanted to go with that line of thought.

"You are not a little girl, Bella," I said, my voice slightly altered from the growling. "You shouldn't want to look like one."

_I'm not trying to look like a little girl,_ she protested.

I snarled my disagreement. "Tiny body, no curves, no weight, a pre-pubescent look even when your body shape craves it? Craves the weight, the curves?" I ground my hips into her tight, squeezing pussy. "I wouldn't be doing this if you were a little girl, Bella. I couldn't have mated with you if I'd met you years ago - maybe I would have been drawn to you, drawn enough to stick around and wait, not knowing why, not understanding why I was so benignly fascinated with a human child, maybe, _maybe,_ but love, _this?"_ I drew out and thrust back in. "This is because I am a man and you are a woman. Not a girl. A _woman._ And this delicious little curve right here," I said, palming the bottom curve of her tummy, "this is a subtle but very... _poignant_ indication that you are _not_ a little girl. You are a _woman. My woman,"_ I growled.

_My chest wasn't enough of an indicator, then? _She was fighting it, but her background thoughts betrayed her. I wondered if she even knew. She wanted to look like Alice. And if she couldn't look like Alice, then she wanted to look like Rosalie, but she knew the latter was impossible - she wasn't tall enough, or curvy enough.

I snarled my response, hiking her leg up a little so I could go a bit deeper as she used her muscles to milk an orgasm for both of us. "It's your _whole body,"_ I said in a half whisper, half growl. "It spells out in a language I'm just learning all the things I truly need in the world. I _love_ your body. _I adore it._ And it _fucking bothers me _that you can't see what I see. I _don't want you to look like anyone but yourself."_ My words were harsh but I kept my grip on her body light, gentle.

_You don't understand._

"That much is obvious," I said in agreement. I shifted my free hand from underneath her side to sweep her hair over her shoulder so I could kiss it. I let my fingers tangle in her hair and cradle her head. "So explain it to me. I swear I'm on your side. I'm pro-Bella, and I always will be."

_No, you're being an asshole about it. And you're using sex to cover up assholish behavior._

I sighed and regrouped and thought for a moment. Did she have a point? Maybe. I hadn't meant to say as much as I did, but I did mean every word. But possibly I could have done this better. I started out just wanting to love her, but it just pissed me off so much that she could have such a skewed view of herself, a view that was obviously unhealthy. I might have gotten carried away.

I sighed again and held her tightly to me. "You're right. I stand by my views of your body, and I swear to you one day I'm going to get you to agree with me utterly and completely , but I didn't do this with much grace. I'm sorry, Bella. I'm sorry for being an asshole," I murmured in her ear. My anger was gone, but in its place was an ineffable sadness.

She sighed and I felt her shoulders relax and her pussy clench tightly. "I forgive you for being an asshole. And thank you for admitting it," she whispered.

I snuggled into her neck and kissed the back of it. I let my left hand rove back over her belly. "I still love your tummy," I whispered.

She snorted and I could imagine that she rolled her eyes too, but I couldn't be certain. _That's fine. You can love my tummy._

I grinned. "Will you love your tummy with me?"

_Don't push it. I'm not even sure we're on speaking terms._

"That's easily solved." I took her left hand with mine and brought it to the area in question, lacing my fingers through hers and my palm covered her hand, as our fingertips sought out that delicious curve. "Bella, my love, I would like to introduce you to your tummy. As your tummy is one of my very favorite spots, I thought it would be best if you two became acquainted."

_I feel ridiculous. I'm not saying hello to my fat stomach. _ _You can't make me._

"Oh, so this," I said, trailing our combined fingertips over and over that curve, "does nothing for you?"

_That's not fair._

"It's all fair, love," I whispered into her ear. "It's all fair and I'm prepared to play dirty if necessary."

_Oh... oh, you know I like it when you play dirty..._

I smiled to myself. Yes, I did know that. In my most persuasive tone, I reasoned with her, my lips against the delicate shell of her ear. "Bella, my sweet Bella. You don't have to love your belly today. But could you like it? Could you just try that out for me, just for today?"

_I... I... I guess._ She moaned and squeezed me harder. I groaned in response.

Could we have all of our conversations like this? Please?

I left her hand on her belly and let mine slide lower, into her curls to the little bundle of nerves that I knew needed some stimulation by now. "Will you come for me, my sweet Bella?" I whispered into her ear as my fingertips slipped and slid in her slickness. She whimpered and moaned aloud as she chanted my name in her head.

After only a few more moments she began to pant my name aloud even while she chanted, _bite me, bite me and come too! _I purred at the prospect and felt her start to reach her orgasm. I shifted a little and let my lips seal over the space just below her jaw. I licked and sucked the unbroken skin, bringing blood to the surface before letting my teeth touch and slice, my tongue catch and sooth, over and over again washing away the tastes of last night's food and its early morning return journey, chasing away the not-entirely-enticing taste of mint toothpaste. The savory tang was ambrosia in liquid form, the tiny drops infusing my entire mouth with delicious aroma that cleansed my palate utterly. I groaned and shuddered as I took four more drops. I cupped Bella's sex in my left hand in her head in my right. In Bella's head she imagined that we were home, in our queen-sized bed, and that we were watching each other in the mirror before us. I held her body as it tensed and shook, her mid-volume whimpering the wordless counterpoint to her very vocal mental chanting of the words 'Yes!' and 'Edward!' both. I was no better. The moment her blood hit my tongue it began; the deep, completely mind-blowing orgasm that convinced me that heaven existed for me. It started deep in my spine and drew from every tense muscle in my body. When I could, when there was no trace of blood to be exposed in the air, I threw my head back and into the pillows and groaned loudly.

"Oh _fuck_, Bella!"

I was jerking and pulsing even as her pussy clenched down on me with an involuntary strength that was deeply to be admired. In a moment of fantasy as I released my essence deep within her body, I imagined the two of us on a giant bed with tropical breezes flowing through the room, stirring the heated air. We were definitely taking a month-long honeymoon on Isle Esme.

I shifted her leg back and rubbed at the muscle in her hip as we both began to come down from our last orgasm for this part of the day. She was panting, limp and beautifully flushed a moment later when there was a soft knock on the door. I quickly adjusted our covers such that the sheet and light blanket were tucked securely up under her arms. One of my arms was curled up under her head, beneath the pillow, and the other held her securely to me, over the covers, my hand between her breasts with my fingertips just at her throat. We were so close, actually, pressed up against one another, partially because I was still _within_ her. It was good that I moved so quickly because just after the soft knock, the door opened and Renee appeared behind it.

"Mom!" Bella instantly chastised.

"Oops," Renee said, her eyes widening as she took in our obviously post-coital state. Very quickly by human standards she looked away and blushed. "Why aren't you two up and dressed yet? We still have daylight to burn!"

"Mom, seriously," Bella groaned in exasperation. "Go away and close the door and we'll get up."

"Alright. There's coffee on, and sandwich stuff in the fridge for lunch."

And then Renee left.

I understood in theory why this bothered Bella, and yet I didn't. Bella happily dished to her mother over the phone almost everything she and I did in the bedroom - just about everything but the blood. And yet, dealing with it in person was a deeply embarrassing exercise for her. My only basis of comparison was my own family. All of us had intimate awareness of the sex lives of the others, but Alice, Jasper, and myself most particularly in our separate ways. It simply wasn't a big deal. We all had active, sexual relationships with our partners, and we each gave the other couples as much privacy and respect as we could, gentle and occasional teasing about breaking through walls aside - Esme was particularly bad about this. Her rationale was that if she could build a wall she was also entitled to knock it down with Carlisle anytime she liked. There was nothing wrong or bad about that, it just was, and now that we were _all_ mated and I was not the odd man out, it was no longer a source of guilt for the rest of them and resentment for me - thought admittedly I would have been more resentful if I had truly known what I was missing.

Then again, we were all adults, and always had been. Even when at one point in each of our lives we were newborn, that was a phase that quickly passed. Though we were a family, there were no true parents - a patriarch, yes, but no mother, no father. Our power was not truly hierarchical, and Carlisle was no dictator. Ours was more like cells in the body, each contributing to the whole, and I could see that this, at least, was not how most human families functioned.

The situation was still strange, and I wasn't sure what to make of it, other than to accept it and analyze on the go.

I was tugged from my thoughts by the feel of my love stretching next to me, her skin rubbing deliciously, but sadly taking her glorious pussy away from the immediate and intimate contact we'd enjoyed before. I put my arm back under the covers and stroked her side before lightly massaging some of the muscles along her back.

"Oh, _Edward," _she groaned loudly.

"Get up!" we both heard Renee call out even louder, through the door, just before I heard the front door close.

Bella sighed. _Yeah. We should. Okay. Getting up. Up, up, up, up, yup, up. Let's go shower. Ugh. I have the strangest urge to just snooze and eat strawberries off your abdomen, and maybe toast, because then I would have to chase all the crumbs and lick them up, and just make love to you all day long._

I grinned and shifted us so that I held myself over her as she lay beneath me, her fingers now running over my chest like streams of hot water.

"We've done that," I murmured to her. The crumbs had gone everywhere, but Bella had been _very_ diligent in chasing them. "We can do it again, if you like, but not today."

We'd also done my version, out in the woods. Granted, a blanket and some freshly caught venison had played large into my version and there was no sleep in sight, but mutatis mutandis.

Still, we showered quickly, which meant our hands lingered as we washed one another and I treasured her soft sighs as I washed her hair. I began purring as she washed mine and didn't stop until we were wrapped in our towels and stepping out of the bathroom, back to the guest room. As she rummaged through our bags for our clothes, I stepped up behind her and held her tightly to me, soaking in the firm resistance my hardened cock met as she bent over.

_My poor baby. We don't have time for much - we should keep going, get dressed - but I can suck you off. I'd be happy to do it._

I groaned, warring with the decision.

Bella dropped her towel and pulled it from between us, but as there wasn't much space and there was quite a lot of friction, she pulled mine away, too. Suddenly my cock was nestled right in the valley of her beautiful rear and the chill of the chain around my waist pressed into her when she straightened up.

_Oh! Focus, focus, focus, Bella. Focus. _I watched with interest as she put a pale blue bra on - not my favorite color on her, but close - and then... ugh, she bent over to get the matching underwear. I clutched her hips to me and held her steady as she lifted one foot, then another, then... fuck, she bent over _further_ and slowly, slowly straightened back up again as she pulled the matching lacy boy shorts all the way up until my cock rubbed against the material.

It was so _unfair. _Bella could make me come in twenty seconds, if she wanted to, but we had no such quick outlet for her. After much, much intense practice I could make her come quickly, but we had a hell of a time stopping there. It was usually just the first tiny appetizer to an overwhelming feast of the senses that inevitably took hours. We did _not_ have that kind of time right now.

My erection would subside in time. Probably. Unless I kept thinking about her, unless she flirted with me, unless the wind shifted and I was drenched in her scent, unless something, anything in her mind set one of the two of us off. And if she did graciously do me the service, I would only get hard again, and the same situation would be at hand. Either way I was going to have to deal with it like I always did. Either way... but one way I could have her lips around my cock, my seed on her tongue and her blood on mine, and the other way I wouldn't have any of those things...

I groaned and folded. "Please, Bella," I said with normal volume, though my voice was in its lowest register. "Won't you suck my cock for me? Won't you let me coat my tongue in your blood? Won't you pump me and squeeze me and bite me as I come in your mouth?"

Bella wiggled her ass back at me. _Baby, I thought you'd never ask. _"The answer is always yes," she added softly. _Grab me a pillow and sit on the edge of the bed._

I did as she asked and put the pillow between my feet. She walked to me, semi-clad and utterly gorgeous and I held her hands to steady her as she sunk to her knees on the pillow. With her hands on my thighs, she leaned in and lapped up the underside of my hardened length.

_So sweet. So good. _

She nuzzled the thatch of curls at the base of my cock before using her teeth and nipping up the side. I couldn't help the groan escaping. Usually when we had to be quiet, Bella's lips did not go near my cock. "Yes, yes, Bella, yes." I ran my fingers through her hair and caressed the back of her neck and shoulders, all without obstructing the view. "Please, let me see those beautiful lips wrapped around my cock," I breathed out, trying to concentrate both on the moment and the words, knowing that my efforts would be appreciated by my love. "Oh, Bella, _yes,_ let me feel your teeth - bite me, bite me, suck me, _hard."_

Bliss! I shivered and shied away from reality. I didn't want to taste her blood just yet. I wanted this blissful torture to continue indefinitely. I just wanted Bella to suck my cock for the next several days, or barring that, the next several hours. I snarled with teeth firmly shut when I felt Bella's finger pressing against my lips.

_Don't get grumpy, and don't bite my finger off. I promise you, my cranky, sexy, vampire that if you come like a good boy right now, I promise you that if you can find us forty-five seconds of privacy at some point during the day I'll drop to my knees and suck you off again. I promise. Lips, tongue, teeth, sucking, coming, blood, blood, blood, all for you, baby, whenever you want it, wherever you can manage it, I promise. Open your mouth. Open your mouth, Edward, and then come in mine._

I did, and then, I did. I came snarling and groaning and it felt so damn good.

Our hosts were doing some chores outside, so I didn't have to eat lunch, and it was blissfully overcast. We were going to spend the afternoon at the mall to do some last minute Christmas shopping, then go see a movie - Bella negotiated this day with me in mind. Still, I wore a long sleeved overshirt that had a very fashionable hood attached - I was grateful fashion had taken this turn just as I had acquired a human wife. Bella handed me one of Charlie's old Seattle Mariner's caps. I tried to tame my hair before I put it on, but Bella silently assured me it was a lost cause, and I looked gorgeous regardless of the state of my hair.

_Why is your hair so crazy? _she asked as we wandered the mall hand in hand together, Bella all the while denying that she needed anything I felt she might.

"For a few months before... the household was likely in upheaval. I don't remember, but I've discussed it with Carlisle. Then with members of our household staff getting sick and dying, and then my parents, and then me shortly after - getting my hair cut was lowest on the priority list." I flexed my fingers and brought our clasped hands up between us. "Never wondered why my nails were so long?"

_They're not so bad. They're about as long as mine. I just figured that had something to do with the customs of the time, or something._

"Yes, but you're not accounting for the piano. I have always played. I imagine I've always kept them short. I probably didn't let them go until I was in the hospital, but still. For the last eighty-eight years, it's been mildly annoying. I cope, but still."

_Well, that's good to know._ She brought my fingers to her lips and kissed them. "I'm glad you play, anyway."

"Bella, what did you get me for Christmas?"

I felt a mental door slam shut.

"Why do you even ask? You know I'm not going to tell you."

I grinned down at her. "I was hoping you'd slip. But yes, I did feel that door shut."

She rolled her eyes at me. "And I'm not going to open it up for you. That's the room marked 'Presents for Edward' and you're not allowed in there, so don't waste your time."

I both loved and hated that she could do this. It was... _incredible_ that she had such control over her mental space. It was also incredibly frustrating. Leave it to me to find a mate who can control my access to her head.

"What are _you_ going to give _me_ for Christmas?" Bella challenged as we paused by a jeweler's window.

"Ah, ah, ah," I said, chiding. I slipped my right hand around her waist and pulled her close to me as we looked at the display. "Presents are the one surprise I'm allowed, and I'm not going to ruin it."

Bella sighed, but made no argument, mental or vocal, as I walked with her into the jewelry store. "I bet you spent a lot. I hate it when you do that, you know."

I grinned. "I know you do. Which is why I spent eight dollars and fifty cents, plus tax."

Bella's head jerked around and her eyes snapped to mine. There was a look of pleasure dawning on her face. "Did you really?" she whispered in disbelief. "Seriously? Honestly?"

Score. And this was _exactly_ what I was hoping would happen. I nodded, still grinning.

_You wonderful man, you! You actually __**listen**__ to me!_

Since we were in public, I didn't answer. I just kept smiling and took her over to the case of precious and semi-precious stones.

"What do you like?" I murmured to her.

"Eh," she said softly. _They're all so ostentatious. I just... oh, well that one's nice._

"Which one?" I asked in a voice that matched hers for volume. I couldn't tell from her thoughts.

"That one, third from the left, on the top." She pointed to a section of the case.

I looked up and caught the attention of one of the employees of the shop.

"Can I help you sir, ma'am?"

"We'd like to look at the diamond and moonstone ring in platinum right there."

"An excellent choice."

Bella turned to me with suspicious eyes. "Did you plan this?"

I grinned and shook my head. I watched as she looked at the ring that the attendant had placed on the piece of felt before us. Gingerly she picked it up. _It __**is**__ beautiful. _Then she put it back down again and thanked the attendant with a note of finality.

"Wait just one moment, please," I asked politely to the attendant and turned my attention back to my lovely wife. "You don't like it? I think it's you. And I think it would look beautiful on you."

"You've given me enough rings for a lifetime, Edward," she said sardonically.

I raised an eyebrow. "I've given you two, and both were strictly necessary. This one is free from purpose."

"Yes, exactly," she said quietly. "It has no purpose."

"It's just a token of my undying affection for you," I said in my most persuasive tone, knowing that we were picking up an audience of curious consumers around us.

_Ooo, you're playing dirty! Bad Edward! Bad! Fine. Let's negotiate. _"If I let you buy me this ring, can I be present-free for the next year? Please?"

I didn't do it often, but the occasion called for it. I rolled my eyes at Bella. "Oh, please. There are many celebratory moments coming up in the next twelve months and you know it. Your birthday and our anniversary are just two. How about until the end of March?"

"Look at that ring, Edward," she said softly but with urgency, motioning toward it and the attendant who was trying to conceal his amusement at our antics. "You think that ring is only worth three months of gift-giving hiatus? Oh, I don't _think _so. End of September."

"End of June."

"End of August," Bella said. _And it PAINS me!_

"End of July. My final offer."

Bella gave me a look. _Final offer? Final offer? What the hell? I'm the one with the bargaining chips over here, what do __**you**__ mean, 'final offer?'_

I leaned over and combed her hair away from her ear with my fingers and held it securely at the base of her neck. I leaned in and whispered into her ear. "Please, Bella. _Please?"_ It was the tone that usually got me my way. "Please won't you let me buy you something pretty? I love buying you things that show off your beauty. Clothes that flatter your beautiful shape, lingerie that shrouds you in mystery right up until l rip it off your body, and jewelry that brings out the luster of your skin. Diamonds and moonstone - so beautiful and so apropos; the color of our skin and the hardness of mine - and soon enough, yours. A beautiful ring for a beautiful woman. Accept it, Bella. Accept it."

I felt her shiver. "Fine," she said weakly. "End of July."

I grinned and kissed her on the cheek before turning back to the assistant who was clearly biting the inside of his mouth to keep straight face.

Bella decided that she wanted to wear the ring on her left index finger, so once her size was taken, we paid for it and left the shop with the promise to return in forty-five minutes to pick up the ring, which would be ready then. We continued wandering slowly through the mall, chatting.

"It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow," Bella pointed out. "Any thoughts on how we're going to proceed?"

"I'm thinking I'll probably wake up tomorrow morning with a migraine. Those come and go and there is both sensitivity to light as well as nausea and vomiting that can be quite common with them. Sadly, I will have no appetite. I'll be fine by the time the sun sets, however. I scouted out some Christmas Eve Church options for us. The 'Midnight' service starts anywhere from eight in the evening to eleven, depending on which sort of church you want to attend."

"But wait, go back. You won't be bored during the day?"

I shook my head. "Renee has some books I haven't read. I scouted _that_ situation out last night. I'll be fine. I'll miss you. I'll miss being in the peace and quiet of your mind, but I'll be fine." I proceeded to tell her about the different Christmas Service options and she chose the Episcopal Cathedral in Jacksonville. I was curious as to whether or not we might be joined by Renee and Phil, but Bella only laughed.

"No, but they'll let us borrow the car."

I let the subject drop.

"Have you ever been to the part of Brazil we're going to before?"

I shook my head. "No, but I've read about it and studied some maps. Also, Alice was quite descriptive."

"What's it like?"

"Nahuel and Huilen don't live anywhere near what you would be comfortable calling civilization. We'll take a day to get there and a day to return, but I doubt we'll be in conference with them for long. From what I gather from Alice, Nahuel doesn't actually believe that you would consent to be in a relationship with me of your own free will without being brainwashed, and so has refused to give up any information that would help us until he's convinced. Not that he put it quite that way - it's Alice's hope that once he sees you he'll start talking."

"She doesn't know? She can't see that happening? Shouldn't... I mean, doesn't it work like that for her? I mean, shouldn't she be able to see that already? We show up, I pull you into a torrid embrace, and Nahuel spills his guts?" She was confused, but then Bella had never really understood how Alice meant to find the hybrid anyway.

"She can't see the future where he is concerned. She thinks it's the same thing as with the wolves, in fact, she was counting on it when she went looking. She can read you and me because she is like and she's been like you. She's never been like Leah, or Nahuel. She's never... well, let me put this a different way."

I lowered my voice so she could just barely hear me as we walked along. "Human minds work a certain way, they have a certain texture to them, a way they process information. It's difficult to describe accurately, as we have no common frame of reference, but they all feel the same in a very general sense to me. Our minds feel different - they're faster, quicker, sharper - they just have a different feel, a different texture. It's not better or worse, but it is definitely different. The Pack as a different mind, again, only there are two different minds. When they go around on two feet, their mind is human-like, but not human. When their on four feet, it's a completely different thing, not remotely human at all. They think together. They share thoughts, memories, references. It's a pack mentality, literally. If one of them has a thought, it triggers a memory in someone else's mind and the thought and memory are shared by all, as if it belonged to each individually, and it works over whatever distances are involved. I..."

Holy shit.

_Edward? Edward, what's going on, are you okay?_

I blinked and took a deep breath. "I... just... realized something." And I was still trying to process it. Oh, holy shit. What have we done?

"What did you realize?" _Can we talk about it in public, or should we do this some other way? I don't have your journal, but there's a bookstore somewhere in here, and we could go get one if we need to. We probably shouldn't leave the mall, unless this is an emergency. Is this an emergency? Edward?_

"No. I... Can we stop walking, please?" Fuck, I just wanted to be still. I hated having to maintain the illusion when I felt overwhelmed like this.

_Of course, baby. Let's go sit on that bench over there._

Her grip on my hand was firm, and her other hand was on my upper arm as we navigated the crush of humanity bent on buying last minute gifts. We sat on the bench and Bella put the pink stripped shop bag between our feet, along with her purse. She leaned into me, angled slightly and put both hands on my thigh. I wrapped my left arm around her back and rested my right hand with both of hers. Instantly her hands moved to surround mine. I bent my neck so that our foreheads were touching.

"The day that Leah was going to teach me to surf," I said, my voice a soft whisper. "The day that you had that productive meeting at Charlie's house instead."

_The Summit. Yeah. Okay. I'm with you._

"Leah and I went running, and well, you already know most of this. We had a heart to heart. I invited her into the family, and of course she's one of us, now. But, but it was more than that. She wasn't just running to something, she was running away from something, obviously. Obviously. Even though she is still friends with Jacob - better friends, now, perhaps - and even though she still sees her little brother quite often, and her parents occasionally, she... She didn't just join the Cullens that day. Even in her words spoken to me, that's not all that happened. She also disowned herself from both of those families - the Pack, and the Clearwaters. She said she couldn't deal with either one of them. And then she joined our family."

_Ooookay. I guess I'm missing the point, Edward._

"All this time I thought the difference in her mind, which admittedly I haven't sampled oh-so often, as I've usually been in yours, but I thought the difference was because she shifted so infrequently. But it's not. I just realized it's not."

_I still have no idea what you're trying to say, what has upset you._

"Leah's not part of the pack anymore," I whispered.

"What do you mean, 'Leah's not part of the pack'? She's a werewolf, how can she not be part of the pack?" Bella asked in a whisper even quieter than mine.

"I don't know. But she's not. Her mind... it... Jacob's mind is different because he's the Alpha. I... I don't have a good way to explain it. But it's different, no matter what shape he's in. Leah's mind didn't used to be like his, but it is now. It's a subtle difference, and before I started explaining it to you, I never really thought about it, even though I felt it. And now that I think about it, the first time there was that difference was the end of our heart to heart, that day. There was a shift, and I didn't think anything of it. I thought she had just finally calmed down, but it was much more than that. There are two packs, now."

_You mean Leah is the Alpha of her own pack?_

"I think so."

_Holy shit, indeed. Well, okay. Is this bad? I mean, is something bad going to happen?_

"I can't imagine what what would be. I mean... she's already disavowed anything we might imagine her holding dear. What has she got left to lose? Us? We're not going anywhere."

_Well, I don't care what pack she's in, I just want her to be happy._

"Me, too," I whispered.

_Well, okay. What does this all have to do with Alice?_

I smiled and sighed and shifted my head slightly so I could kiss my love.

"Right. So, everyone's mind is different. Mine is different from yours, ours is different from Leah's, and Leah's is different from Sam's. Right. Alice thinks that she can see me clearly and you more or less clearly because she's like me and was like you. Alice thinks that she can't see Leah or Sam at all because she's never been like either one of them, and _trying _to see an outcome where they are even peripherally involved, well, there's nothing. It all goes black. Everything disappears. Alice's theory is that a child from a union like ours would have a different texture of mind, and since she is unfamiliar with it, it would be like the wolves.

"So she looked for holes in her vision, even as she searched physically. She searched out the chain of consequences of every decision and she looked down that chain of consequences until the time you get pregnant to see which decision would lead her to a point where the chain would just disappear. And that's how she found him."

_But the disappearing... wouldn't that mean... I mean... couldn't that mean that she dies, too? I mean, I heard that story from Jake. Right before his First Shift, he was hanging out with Rosalie in the garage, and Alice burst in and informed him that he was either going to die, or turn into a werewolf, because he had just disappeared off her radar screen. So... disappearing, doesn't that mean that you die, for Alice? I mean, if she was looking for a decision that led to her future disappearing, could that mean that she was also walking into her own __**death?**_

I squeezed her hand gently. "Yes," I said softly. "But she had Jasper with her, and she was cautious in every way. She's okay. It turned out alright."

_This time._

I gave Bella a small half smile. "It's not always life or death, you know."

_Says the vampire,_ Bella thought, rolling her eyes at me.

My laughter was silent, and my smile was full. I kissed her.

"Anyway, do you want to know more about Brazil?" I continued on when she nodded and reached up to brush her lips against mine again before relaxing back into the position we'd adopted for the conversation - our heads so close together our foreheads were touching. "I don't anticipate us being out in the jungle for more than four days, and we'll be carrying enough food and water for you and Leah during that time. We'll be sleeping up in the trees, in a hammock, and yes, I brought you bug spray." But even if we were delayed for some reason, I'd made a study of what sort of native and non-native plant life was good to eat, neutral, and poisonous. I also researched the best ways to cook over a camp stove or fire, and which native animals might be the tastiest. Monkey was supposed to be quite good, but if push came to shove, I wanted Bella to try the big cats. Either way, salt was key, and I had brought some. I also had a water purification system and had researched ways of effectively collecting and purifying water in the rainforest.

"Could I get malaria or something?"

I shook my head. We'd been over this before, but she must have forgotten. "It's not a malarial area, per se, but when Carlisle brought all of your other shots up to date, he also gave you one for malaria. You'll have to get a follow up one when you return, but I won't let you forget."

"So what are we doing the rest of the time? I mean, we'd still have like, a week, right?"

"A suite in a five star hotel that we won't have to leave until we go home, unless you want to do so."

"Would we order... room service?" Her voice was full of wonder.

"Strawberries. Toast. _Crumbs,"_ I said to her, softly.

_I'm sold._ _Um... for that hammock up in the trees. Um... you're not going to make me sleep in that alone, are you? I mean, I know sometimes you don't stay with me all the time during the night, and you know that's fine, that makes a lot of sense, I wouldn't ask you to, and I know you've been away from Jasper and Alice and you probably have a lot of catching up to do, only I'm sort of worried that I might roll out or something, or you know, that maybe when no one's paying attention something with sharp teeth will get me._

I leaned in to brush a kiss over Bella's lips. "I wouldn't think of leaving you alone and unprotected for a single moment. If push comes to shove and I _have_ to leave your side for some reason, at least two of us will be with you in my place. And I'm sure as hell not going to leave you in the middle of the night."

"What about baths?" _Ugh, what about bathrooms? Do I really have to pee behind a tree?_

"Full immersion is out, but I'd be happy to give you a sponge bath. That could work just fine. Just tell me the night before and we'll collect rain water for it. And yes, you will go behind a tree, but I'll dig a hole for you and I won't let you fall in. And yes, I brought you toilet paper."

"Thanks," Bella said, but her tone was dubious. For the first time since we sat down, she looked away from me, turned her head. _If you think I'm going to pee - or anything else for that matter - with you standing next to me..._

"That's exactly what I think, Bella. Listen..." I took my hand from hers and cradled her face, not forcing her to look at me, but refusing to be avoided. "You've been with me every time I've eaten since for the last six months." Her eyes darted back to mine and she leaned in again. "You have no idea how terrified I was that you would see that and be disgusted by it, utterly repulsed; that you would take one look at it and judge me harshly because of it. Even now, I accept it, but it doesn't cease to amaze me. This is no different. It's completely natural, a function of your body. We both take in food. My body can metabolize it completely. Yours can't, and it gets rid of the waste with incredible efficiency. There's nothing wrong or shameful about that."

_Yes, but it's smelly and gross._

I smiled. "So is fried chicken. And don't get me started on the wolves. I can't fully describe how wrong they smell. It would be deeply insulting to them if I even tried, and I like them too much to do that."

Bella broke a smile. "So, okay. Where does it stand on the scale of smelly and gross?"

I thought about that for a minute. "On a scale of one to ten? Ten being the worst smell you can actually imagine, one being just on the smelly side of neutral?"

"Sure."

I thought for a moment more. "Raw vegetables are a One. Mint Toothpaste is a Two. Raw meat is Three Point Five. Human waste is a Four. Cooked plant matter that is entirely vegan is a Five. Humans themselves are sometimes a Six - not you, though. Cooked meat, or anything with eggs or dairy in it, cooked, is anywhere from a Six to a Nine, depending. And the Wolves? The Wolves are a Twenty-Three. It's off the charts. When I've been around them for a while and gotten a chance to desensitize myself it backs down to Eleven, but it's always the worst possible smell that goes beyond even what you can imagine. It's simply the worst possible smell."

"Huh. Wow. Okay." _So it's really not a big deal?_

"It's really not a big deal," I confirmed.

"So where am I on that chart?" _Human waste moments aside, of course._

I kissed her nose. "You're not on that chart, love. That's the 'Things That Smell Bad To Edward' chart."

"One to ten, things that smell good to Edward, where am I?" she asked quietly.

"Twenty-three," I said with a soft smile.

_Beyond even what you can imagine, good?_

I nodded.

_Oh. Well... that's okay, then._ I saw and heard her deep breath.

As we were walking again, and when one caught her attention, I bought her a hot pretzel on the way back to the jewelers but she had finished it well before we arrived in our slow progress, forty-five minutes having passed since we settled on the ring.

Bella preferred to simply wear the ring, but I took the box with us all the same. As she admired the ring, she commented, "You know, I think I want to get my ears pierced."

"We can do that today, if you like." I'd seen piercing services advertised at the kiosks and stores that sold costume jewelry and other accessories.

Bella thought about that for a moment. _Yeah, I think that would be okay. Sure. Let's do it._

We hadn't left the store yet, and when I looked at Bella she knew something was up. "Then we should probably get you some decent earrings."

When we met Renee and Phil an hour later at one of the restaurants where I could blessedly get a vegan raw salad with no dressing, Bella had half carat diamond-in-platinum studs in her ears, and she hadn't even fainted from the blood. At first we thought she should simply hold her breath, but the attendant doing the piercing vetoed the idea. Then we had a brilliant plan; I would hold one of her hands, she would look into my eyes and I would hold my other hand cupped loosely over her nose and mouth so the only thing she could smell was me. The attendant look at us as if we were insane, but it worked. And also, I had managed to convince Bella that the earrings weren't a gift, they were something she bought for herself. Still, Bella stopped herself several times from tucking her hair behind her ears during dinner. She didn't want her mother to see and ask. As it was the ring on her finger was an inevitable source of conversation.

"Oh, baby, is that ring new? It's so pretty! Let me see," Renee said, reaching across the table to Bella's extended hand. "And this is a beautiful engagement ring. Has Charlie seen it yet?"

"No," Bella said. "I think we're going to come back from Brazil engaged."

"And when are you going to get married again? We're coming to this one, you know."

I grinned and gratefully stopped eating to speak. "We're thinking early summer, but after graduation. We've already started our premarital counseling."

Bella snorted with laughter, almost choking on her Coke. Responding to Renee's baffled looks, Bella regained her composure and tried to explain.

"The priest, she's um, she's kinda young. But she's cool. We've been to her church a couple of times. It's okay. The service is... well, Edward likes it, but I'm not a fan. But I like her sermons. That's worth the price of admission. But our first homework assignment from her was to watch that new movie, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, the one with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and then talk with each other about how lack of communication broke their relationship, and how open communication rebuilt it again. Then we had to report back to the priest about it."

The table duly erupted into laughter and Phil pronounced that we'd obviously found a winner.

"Yeah, even though we're pretty good about communication most of the time, the movie was an interesting thing to watch, from that perspective. I mean, you really see how two people who were just _made_ for each other still couldn't hold a relationship together because they didn't know how to talk with one another and there were so many things unsaid. After five or six years of that they were both ready for a divorce. But it was also a good movie. A little violent, but okay. We had to see it twice."

***

The migraine day passed in silence as everyone else was out of the house. I busied myself by memorizing Renee's family recipes, and once that was finished, I perused through the rest of her small library. The books on Reiki were interesting. The books on meditation made quite a lot of sense, given what I'd observed in people's minds. The one book on chakras was _fascinating_ and I made a mental note to do more reading in that vein. I'd only just finished Eckhart Tolle's 'The Power of Now' and Neil Donald Walsch's 'Conversations with God' books one, two, and three when I heard their mental voices through the din of everyone else within five miles. Renee was the easiest to spot. They were on their way back.

I quickly returned all but the book I was just beginning to the shelf. I settled myself on the couch with a book and a blanket and a half-full glass of water and endeavored to look happy, but slightly hung over.

I was speed reading my way through 'A Course In Miracles' when they all walked in. I nearly drowned in the flood of sympathy that gushed out of my mother-in-law, but felt most comforted when Bella dropped her purse next to the couch and summarily set herself down in my lap, curling up with her arms around my neck.

"Baby, you look _so_ much better than this morning." She kissed me on my lips, and though our lips were closed, we lingered. "How are you feeling?" she asked with all apparent sincerity.

I gave her a partial grin and shrugged. "A little hungover. The migraine stuff I take always leaves me feeling that way. Don't really have an appetite for dinner, though I had some toast earlier. But I'll be fine for this evening. Thank you for asking, love. I hope you were able to have a good day with Renee and Phil?"

This was about the time that Renee flipped off some of the lights and turned the Christmas tree lights on.

I spent the evening until ten thirty when Bella and I left for church being regaled by the story behind every Christmas ornament, and when that was exhausted, the photo albums came out. It was fascinating to listen to Bella's words while watching her facial expressions and involuntary blushes, even while being cradled in her mind which filled with memory every time Renee told a new story. I soaked it all in, encouraging Renee even when Bella cringed and hid her face in my arm. There would be a time she might not be able to recall any or all of these stories. I would remember them for her, as Carlisle had remembered for me all that he could. I'm sure my eyes lit up when Renee brought out the photo albums.

Bella had been an adorable child, she really had been. I couldn't keep in the laughter when I saw her dressed as a pink ballerina that was clearly not a Halloween costume, but an outfit for a ballet class for six year olds.

"I've never been particularly graceful," Bella muttered from next to me on the couch. I was sandwiched between Bella and Renee, with Phil perched on the arm of the sofa. The photo album was open on my lap.

"You're still not, love," I pointed out.

_If you weren't made of marble I'd thump you for that remark._ The good news for our cover is that even when Bella spoke to me in her mind, her face was still quite expressive, as if she'd said it out loud. This meant that I was usually free to respond at least to the extent of her expressions.

"What?" I asked with something like innocence, except that no one in the room was convinced. "It is true, love, and you have admitted it on several occasions."

"Doesn't mean you have to agree so quickly," she muttered.

I leaned over and pressed a kiss to the side of her face. "You don't have to be graceful to be perfect, Bella. And you already are, so don't worry about it."

"Aww," Renee cooed at us, but quickly pointed to the next picture and began describing the story behind it.

We had to cut short the story time to get ready for the midnight service, but we still had all of tomorrow, Christmas Day, for storytelling. Well, that and eating, but I have to admit that I wasn't looking forward to the eating as much as the gift-giving and the story-telling.

***

**End Note**: 'Mutatis Mutandis' is one of my favorite phrases from seminary. It means to refer to something that is in essence the same, even though in a different situation it may appear to be different. Case in point: Bella would prefer to lick chocolate off Edward, where Edward would prefer to lick blood of Bella. Even though his version is disgusting in a very practical way for (most of) us, it is mutatis mutandis; they both get to have sexy times with their partner and food. The same, but different.

...so, what do you think?


	36. In Transit

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

***

**Book Two:** One More Year 'Til Forever  
**Chapter 13:** ...Yeah, uh, no.  
**A/N:** We didn't have a chapter thirteen last time. You think I'd suddenly start now?

***

**Chapter 14:** In Transit  
**A/N:** Yes. This is half the length of one of my chapters, but honestly; I could only deal with Edward reminiscing so long.

Okay. Christmas. So, here's the thing. For many of you this will be interesting or neutral, and for some of you this will make you flip your wig. So, if you're feeling flippy, as an official professional in this field I'm going to give you my officially professional advice: Deep Breaths.

_**Yes**_, Bella & Edward are going to a Christmas Eve Service at a mainline protestant church.

_**No**_, I will not describe it all.

_**Yes**_, I maintain this is utterly in character. (Have you noticed how often Edward struggles with this shit in canon? Seriously, people. That boy needs pastoral care from a progressive theologian like nobody's business. --Tell him I've got time in my schedule, would you?)

_**No**_, I am not trying to shove religion down your throat.

_**Yes**_, I am a priest (in case you've forgotten, or overlooked this tidbit of information in the past).

_**No**_, I do not look at my church or The Church or Religion In General through rose colored glasses. Perhaps you've picked up on this. Perhaps this information still eludes you.

So saying, it's only like... a page and a half. But still, some of you have had a minor freak out about this in reviews, and it's not my intention to provide so much challenge to anyone that they need to take prozac afterwards. (This is not to say I don't intend to provide challenge, mind... :)

***

Traveling to the Amazon was a multi-day affair. Our flight to Manaus, a small city located deep in the jungle, and the closest decent airport to where we needed to be, left at an ungodly hour in the morning... from Miami. So Bella and I flew from Jacksonville to Miami the day before and stayed in a hotel near the airport. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best that could be done.

Interestingly enough, there were direct flights from Manaus to Seattle, and we had two First Class tickets for that fifteen hour flight to get us back in the Pacific Northwest in time for school to begin in another twelve days. There was some question whether or not we might finish up early and go to Rio instead - much more interesting than Manaus if you care more about nightlife than wildlife, but that remained to be seen. Either way, flights were easily changed things.

Bella and I boarded early and settled into the first class seats on the jet at Miami International Airport and strapped in for our five hour morning flight to Brazil. Bella had asked me to recite Jane Eyre for her. It was just after six o'clock and it would be another short while before the plane was completely boarded.

As I recited the novel from the beginning, my own dramatic interpretation of it, I admit that I multitasked, something I don't usually do with Bella unless strictly necessary, but my mind was wandering over the past seventy-two hours of the first Christmas I'd celebrated in memory.

I liked the incense at the midnight church service, and the candles were nice, too. The music was just delightful - there were four pieces of brass, plus a violin cello, harp and organ. I enjoyed singing with the rest of the people gathered and Bella, who I realized belatedly had never heard me sing... well, it was nice to be in her head while I did. Very complimentary. After the first hymn she had extracted my whispered promise to sing to her more often.

I had my arm around Bella the entire time, save when we got up to receive communion. I was surprised - in all of our previous church experiences, Bella had refrained, and I with her. And yet, there we were on Christmas Eve. I slid out of our pew first and stood back, waiting for her to proceed me as we stood in a slow moving line. Even so it wasn't long before we were at the people who were distributing the bread and the wine. Automatically assuming a gesture I barely recalled, I crossed my arms over my chest, fingertips touching my shoulders. The priest with one hand on a basket of bread, raised one hand to my forehead. I could feel the sting in my eyes as she spoke, her blessing a murmuring cadence.

"Brother, walk in the knowledge that you are a blessed child of our God; Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier. Amen."

Mutely, I walked the three steps to the man with a chalice of wine in his hand. I was going to pass him by, but he called to me softly, "Wait." I turned to him and replaced my hands across my chest, but he presented the silver chalice to me even so, but clearly not intending to put it to my lips, or for me to take it. He just held it there between us, just below the level of our eyes, which met.

"The Covenant is remade in Him, and in you. Amen."

"Amen," I echoed in a whisper before turning away.

As I knelt down after returning to the pew, a prayer came to me, from where I couldn't remember, though it was clear to me that I hadn't come up with it on my own.

"_We do not presume to come to this, thy table O Merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table, but thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us, therefore, Gracious Lord..."_

But I couldn't remember any more.

Trappings of religion aside, I wasn't sure if I believed in anything. I did suspect a great deal, however, and I suspected that if God did exist - which I was suspecting more and more often these days - Bella's love for me being my first clue, and orgasms being my second - then it was possible, _possible_ mind, though not certain... It was _possible_ that we were in the created, evolved order of things, and not, in fact, inherently evil.

Is a snake evil if it bites a human and kills it with venom? A scorpion? A sting ray? A jelly fish? Is a bull evil if it gores a human simply for being in the wrong places at the wrong time? A bison, for trampling one? Is a bear evil if it kills and eats a human, instead of a seal? A shark? ...A vampire?

Perhaps the answer is actually no. Perhaps.

Communion on Christmas Eve had been particularly difficult, but in ways I would have never imagined. Was religion supposed to be this... challenging?

Christmas morning had been delightful. The night before Bella had been tired when we finally undressed and slipped into bed so I'd spread the ultra-thin cashmere blanket over her side of the bed and held her. I stroked the long length of her side as she quickly drifted into sleep. I felt her mind soften and relax around me.

She dreamed I was an angel, again, only that night I was singing to her in her dreams. Eight hours exactly from when she fell asleep I woke her in our usual fashion, placing soft kisses along the notes to her nocturne as they laid a trail up her thigh to the sweet juncture between both. It took four and a half minutes of gentle caressing of her hips, her belly, her thighs, the back of her knees before she was aroused enough to begin producing her delicious lubrication. The moment I smelled it I began the gentle process of Bella's cunnilingual wake up call.

Ten minutes later I was pulsing inside of her, catching the tale end of a surprisingly long orgasm. The movement of her body was as luscious and languid as her mind as they both cradled my gentle thrusts and soft words of devotion.

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart," I whispered to her as she caught her breath afterwards. I was still fully sheathed, the length of my body pressed against hers, cooling her down as I held myself above her, offering only a fraction of my weight to her. I shivered and smiled then, feeling her hands rub up and down my sides and back, the insides of her legs rubbing over the outside of my own.

We spent the next two hours gently loving one another.

I continued in my recitation of Jane Eyre as my mind skipped along to the more social part of our Christmas morning.

I wanted to savor her present to me. We'd laughed when she opened mine and I opened hers - outwardly, our presents were exactly alike. They were both plain black blank journals, roughly the side of a trade paperback book. I happened to know that the going rate for such journals, before any pen touched their paper, was eight dollars and fifty cents, plus tax. After a pen touched their paper? Well, Bella's present to me was priceless. I remember so clearly flipping through it, seeing all of its blank white pages filled with her handwriting which changed from tiny to sprawling, a change no doubt that depended upon her mood. I was amazed. I was astounded. I was deeply touched.

When had she had time to write all of this?

How had I never noticed her doing this? How had I never even _seen_ this book before? How had I not so much as guessed at its existence?

I remember her words to me at that moment. "It didn't seem fair. I mean, I got to read your journals,"_ and that's a side of you I might not have gotten to see, even if I could have read your mind, _she finished in her mind. "So I started keeping one, for you." _Think of it as an all access pass to the places in my head I rarely let you see._

I held the book close to my chest with one hand, then, and reached with one hand over the distance between us as we sat on the floor surrounded by half-filled coffee mugs and ripped wrapping paper and trimmings next to the illuminated tree. I took Bella by the back of her neck and drew her toward me, meeting her half way, and kissed her deeply.

"Thank you, love," I had said after our kiss.

I'd read her first entry that night after my love fell asleep. I'd started in thinking that I would want to savor the experience, draw it out, read only a few pages each day before I would inevitably draw to the end of the book and have to _beg _Bella to write me another one. As it turns out, I could only read the first entry, three pages, before I had to close the book and clutch it to my chest.

To say that my ego was bruised was to understate the matter.

It was just as well I'd read it while alone. The irony alone was a bitter pill to swallow; but swallow I would. It was only painful because it was true. Bella's skin was fragile, and her bones, and her blood vessels, all, yes. And yet she had such inner strength - inner strength that I relied on quite often.

I could feel my eyes beginning to burn, the sure signal that if I could, tears would be welling up in them. Why couldn't I be stronger? _Why?_

I took a deep breath and her scent filled my senses. She'd be so angry if she knew I had such a reaction to her gift, or possibly she would be hurt. I know she didn't write this in order to hurt me, but only to be honest. And she wrote nothing demeaning, nothing over dramatic, nothing untrue.

Oh, but the truth can carry a sting with it.

I took a deep breath and recalled that Bella loved me at least as much as I loved her. She wrote these things so I could know a part of her I don't know now. She wrote because she knows I desperately want to know. She did not write to make me feel bad - in that way, this has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with her. This is about her. Her thoughts. Her perceptions. That is what I reminded myself of, in that moment.

The pain passed, though not as quickly as I might have hoped. Still, I read and reread that journal entry. On the tenth reading of it I was able to finally see how full of hope it truly was. Somehow that hope had eluded me on the first nine readings. I'm not sure why.

I packed the journal in our checked luggage, though not my other gift from Bella. I smiled, remembering carefully opening the envelope of wrapping paper that had encased it.

It was a stiff card of paper with writing, and a simple drawing on it. It was the size of credit card, but it had the feeling of an identification card. I took it in all at once, but was drawn to the little drawing in a box on the upper left of the card. I remember looking up at Bella with a grin and asking, "Is this supposed to be me?" In the box was a simple smiley face - two dots for eyes and an upward arc for a grin. Underneath the box were the words, 'Edward A. M. Cullen' written in black marker. To the right, writ large were the words, 'CROWING LICENSE'. Underneath it was the date we were due to return to Forks. Under that, the words, 'This license permits the bearer to crow from the rooftops the news of his engagement to Ms. Bella Swan.'

"It's not just you," she had said. "It's you, before and after crowing."

I'd handed the card to her mother, who was confused at that point, and leaned over to my love. I cupped her face in both hands and kissed her soundly - again.

It was small, it was silly, it was handmade, and... and it meant everything to me. I thought about the card that I'd slipped in front of my driver's license in my wallet. The very thought of it brought a smile to my face. How _should_ I go about crowing it from the rooftops?

I wondered if Eric wanted a scoop. I imagined it all very clearly. If the school newspaper functioned as it had in years past, then an issue would come out the Friday morning of our first week back. I could wait to put an announcement in the local paper. I would catch him between classes, draw him to the side of traffic between buildings and ask him if he wanted the high school social scoop of the century. Perhaps I would bait him a bit. Perhaps I wouldn't. I'd give him directions to the house.

I could imagine him arriving shortly after we did, notebook and camera in hand. Rosalie in the garage, but Emmett in the kitchen, both home over their extended 'winter break' from college. Alice and Jasper still out of the picture - we weren't sure if they were going to come home at Christmas or not. And then enter Leah, stage right, with the newspaper in her hand - she'd been very interested in learning about finance lately, and was tracking several stocks in a fantasy buying and selling game she'd created for herself, refusing to do so for real while she was still 'learning.' Enter half the pack, stage left, hungry as hell. They always hit the kitchen before the garage, and Emmett always had something waiting for them on the counter.

We would join them in the kitchen and snack on whatever Emmett had prepared - I would force down one of whatever it was. I could do that, at least, and we could try to elbow our way past the quorum of Jacob's pack, and they would tease us as far as we would let them before Emmett started threatening them with one of his large chopping knives to leave 'the lovebirds' alone or he wouldn't fix dinner and they could all suffer with pizza instead of whatever master creation he had been planning for the last forty-eight hours.

And when the pack scattered to the winds and Leah retreated to the living room, Bella, Eric, and I would pull up stools to the island in the kitchen, Emmett would put cans of Coke in front of us, and he would interview us as Emmett went about his business, humming to himself. And then Friday morning Bella would wear her engagement ring for the first time to school. And we'd tell Charlie that we'd finally gone public with the news. And I could send in an announcement to the local newspaper and email the priest and let her know. And Tanya. I smiled inwardly at the thought even as I continued to recite the gothic novel of Bella's choice to her. I would definitely have to call our cousins in Denali and let them know the good news.

Should we tell them all? Should we tell them about Elisabeth and Sebastian? Perhaps we'll keep that information for a telling in person, when they came either to meet Bella, or for the second wedding early next summer.

I thought about that for a moment, still reciting dramatically to Bella.

Now that I thought about it... I wondered how the sisters, most particularly, would take the news of half-vampire progeny. While I did not know all the details there were to know, I did know that several centuries ago the Volturi killed their mother during the Immortal Children debacle. My knowledge of the terror and heartache that was inflicted during that time of suffering was the primary motivation of my initial fear and reluctance to even consider trying to get Bella pregnant. Obviously a child _born_ to a vampire/human couple wouldn't quite be the same as taking a child - a five year old, or seven year old, say - and turning them into a vampire, thus stunting their mental, emotional, and moral development, to say nothing of permanently solidifying them as a physical child until such time as they were killed, but until Alice had the vision of the twins as adults - sane, functioning, humorous, mated adults - my mind went to a painfully similar place.

Nothing has terrorized our world - not an army of newborns, not werewolves, not the great Fae War of the 1300's - nothing has scarred our collective psyche more than the Immortal Children.

It wrenched my heart even now to consider it, and to consider how I had once associated my own unborn children with that misguided monstrosity. In that moment of contemplation during recitation, Bella noticed my distraction and my first impulse was to lie to her, to smile and say it was nothing and continue on, but I didn't. First, I didn't want her to second-guess her own intuition, because she was right; there was something. Second, there was no good reason to lie, except to cover my own discomfort with my initial reaction to understanding that our fecundity together was no less than Bella's alone. So instead, I sighed, licked my lips and paused in my recitation.

I told Bella all I knew of the Immortal Children.

Since we were in a public place, even as secluded as we were in our comfortable nook in First Class, I made it into a fairy tale - thinly veiled. Really, I tacked on 'Once upon a time,' before I actually mentioned the dates in question. Bella understood.

"What brought this on?" she asked once I was finished._ That sounds just awful. I mean, I can't even imagine it. It sounds like something out of a bad Hollywood B horror movie or something. Seriously - who thought __**that**__ was a good idea? Making children into vampires? Geez, I'm going to have nightmares about this tonight, I just know it. That's just wrong on so many levels._

I took a deep breath and wrapped myself deeper in her mind. I didn't want to have to say it, but I knew I needed to do so. I had no idea how she would respond.

"When I found out we could have children, that's what I feared we would have - that, or something even more nightmarish," I whispered. "We'll have to tell the Denalis about the twins at some point sooner than later, and it dawned on me we might want to do that in person."

Bella snorted. "Or after the fact," she muttered.

I raised an eyebrow at her.

_Okay, okay, okay. I'm just nervous about the whole Tanya thing. I mean, seriously, Edward. The Siberian Succubus? Some chick who has actively tried to seduce you in the past? You can't think I'm going to love that._

_I mean, sure, you haven't dated her, you haven't... had __**sex**__ with her... The fact that the thought of it annoyed you even at the time is some consolation, but according to your journals, every time she sees you she tries again, if only just a little, just to see if you've changed your mind..._

I sighed and grinned at my love. With one finger beneath her chin I drew her face to mine. I shook my head slightly. "Nothing," I murmured lowly, "in heaven or on earth could make me loose my focus from you. Nothing," I stated simply. And then I kissed her.

A flight attendant walked by. Someone got up to go to use the lavatory. Someone else walked by and sighed at us. Still, we kissed.

_Okay. Feeling better about meeting Tanya._

I quirked up a corner of my lips and spoke softly. "Really, I feel for her. Her sisters, too, but it seems like Kate and Irina have handled the stress of not finding their mates better than Tanya. She only wanted me because she'd given up on finding her mate, and I was her only choice. I am, after all, the only single heterosexual male vegetarian, and as I told you before, the jury was out on whether or not I'd been turned too early to find a mate of my own."

_I can't imagine living a thousand years in this world without having met you. I mean, my mate. I mean, not like, now. If I had to face living any number of years without you, having had you, that would be... just... I... no. No. Not happening. But that's not what I meant. I mean, knowing at least intellectually that there was this vampire mating business that was all that and a bag of chips, but then never actually meeting my mate... or someone who could be my mate, or however it works, not having that for like, a thousand years. I can't imagine how she did it. It does put it in a better perspective, I agree. Still, it would be even easier for me to be kind and understanding if it hadn't been __**my**__ mate she was trying to seduce a few decades ago._

_She'd better respect the fact that you're taken from here on out though, or all my empathy is going to melt like ice in Phoenix._

I smiled and kissed her again, this time combing my fingers through her hair. I sighed into her mouth and resisted the urge to purr as my tongue slid against hers.

Life was good.

When were finished with our extraordinarily leisurely kiss, we resumed our former positions and I continued to recite, but soon enough my mind wandered back to the gift giving.

Bella had particularly enjoyed my gift to her. Outwardly it was exactly the same as her gift to me - a simple black blank-paged journal, a cheap hardcover book that retailed for eight dollars and fifty cents. But whereas Bella had used hers to chronicle her thoughts, I had filled each page with pen and ink sketches, mostly of the two of us, but three of Bella alone, and three of myself alone. Most of the sketches were from my memory of situations we'd actually been in. A few were from her dreams - in several, for instance, I had wings, and I couldn't resist her first dream of me in the police line up, and then later on, handcuffed on her bed in Charlie's house. Of all the drawings, twenty-three were not sexual. There were one hundred and fifty drawings. Ten spanned two pages.

Bella had been struck silent when she opened the journal to the first and most innocuous pages, and then blushed a deep red as she looked several pages beyond in front of her mother. _Oh my goodness, it's my own personalized Kama Sutra!_

I hadn't been able to resist grinning, though I tamped down the laughter. Renee had only asked if we'd coordinated gifts, then rolled her eyes when we said we hadn't.

"Two peas in a pod, clearly," she'd said. Bless her, she never inquired after the contents of either journal.

I smiled to recall the images that had made Bella blush.

Bella perched on the key cover of my piano, one hand on my naked shoulder, one hand bracing herself on the closed top cover as I thrust into her, looking onto the scene from over my right shoulder. Her slim legs were wrapped around my naked waist. The muscles from my shoulders to my thighs along my back were taut and flexing as I pictured myself mid-thrust for her benefit. Her face clearly displayed the extent and volume of her ecstasy.

Myself, bare except for my boxer briefs and my Adonis' belt, the day I conducted the experiment in the locker room. It was one of the pictures of me alone. Bella had wished at the time that she could have been there to see the look on my face. I drew it for her, instead. I was rather smirky and smug, as I recall. I think it came out satisfactorily in the drawing.

At that point she'd slowly closed the journal. _I think I'll save the rest for when I'm not in the same room as Renee and Phil. But oh, baby! You've outdone yourself._ She thanked me aloud as well, and then later that afternoon, and then later that evening... In the evening we'd laid down together as she looked at more of the drawings, urging me to explain my choices. It led to the inevitable reenactment of some them, as well. I'd taken Bella from behind as we lay side-by-each, groaning as her mind spun us off from one fantasy to another each time she turned the page and was reminded of something else.

Bella and I were paused as we sat snug together on the airplane when the attendant came around to collect our breakfast order. Bella was intrigued with the idea of champagne and orange juice at breakfast, but I agreed with her that today wasn't the day to experiment with drinking. When the attendant shifted her focus away to take our neighbor's order, I said as much to Bella as she snuggled back into my side.

"I'll be happy to be your bartender any time between the middle of next month and the twin's conception, but I agree, love, today's not the day."

I thought briefly of what awaited us. I hadn't found the right moment to tell Bella that the situation had escalated somewhat. Carlisle caught me while I was remaining behind a few days ago, ostensibly with a migraine. I hadn't wanted to bring it up with Bella while she enjoyed Christmas with her mother, but neither did it seem right to put it off any longer. Jane Eyre could wait.

_Not bad. I don't suppose we could go out somewhere interesting? I mean, I've never been in a bar - well, okay, that's obvious - but I'm sort of intrigued with the idea of a nightclub. I mean, I'd probably break my ankle if I tried to dance, but it seems like the right place to get a little drunk with you and soak up the atmosphere while I'm still human, you know? I don't suppose... um, fake id's? Is that... I mean, you guys do that anyway, right? Or does this stretch your morals too far? I mean, you'd be with me, and not remotely intoxicated__. You'd never let anything happen to me. Maybe we could stay over night in Seattle or something? You could drive your fancy grey sports car..._ Bella's internal monologue ended on a decidedly wheedling note.

I grinned at her, despite having half a mind on what awaited us when we landed. "Absolutely," I answered her softly. "We'll make a weekend of it. Speaking of which, have you informed Charlie that we're going to Phoenix over Spring Break?"

"Uh, no." _I admit it totally slipped my mind. I should, though. I will. At some point. Soon. Ish. Promise. Remind me?_

I chuckled quietly, but quickly the smile slipped away from my face as I thought about how to tell Bella what Carlisle told me. Directly would probably be the best way.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Bella mumbled at me, eyes narrowed, shifting now that the seatbelt sign was off so that she was reclined, her legs curled up in her seat, her head on a pillow in my lap.

I shifted my hands, one over her stomach and one brushing back the tendrils of hair around her face. "I got a call from Carlisle when you were out with Renee and Phil the other day."

"Mmmhmm," she murmured. _And? I take it that it wasn't hugely stellar news, then, given your lack of Yay!Face._

I think my moment of incredulity at Bella's terminology must have shown on my face, as she smirked at me, but I let it pass without comment.

"Nahuel's being... difficult."

Bella's brow creased. "He was being that before," she said softly. Her mental space was soft and quiet, full of questions without form.

"From what we understand - and there _is_ something of a language barrier - Nahuel's father was exceedingly unscrupulous and abandoned his mother after seducing her, leaving her to a difficult pregnancy and a labor she did not live through, only to come back and try to collect him later on, like luggage left in a lost and found. The degree to which he doesn't trust our intentions has only intensified since Carlisle arrived."

It was only as Bella was nodding her understanding of the question, only as I saw her begin to roll the issue around in that politically savvy mind of hers that her - our, really - breakfasts were delivered by the hyper efficient flight attendants of the First Class cabin.

She sat up again and ate in silence, not really thinking directly on the issue, but letting all she knew about it swell up and then ebb away out of her consciousness. I watched as she made connections that way, unconsciously. Rosalie to Jacob, Rosalie to Esme, Esme to Nahuel, Nahuel to his friend - whose name she could not recall - herself to the Cullens, Nahuel to the Twins. She was unwittingly measuring everyone against everyone else to see who had similarities, who had traits, values, and desires in common. I realized that this was the foundation of her future arguments - the Harvard Business School would call it non-positional bargaining.

I left her to it and contented myself entirely in watching her brain tick over, making connections from the thinnest of possibilities that I would have utterly disregarded, and then figuring out with ease how best to build that connection, should it be necessary. For the first time in my life, I found myself if not at ease in the face of a difficult situation looming in the future, then at least... without significant worry.

An hour later, her breakfast cleared and political musings finished, Bella turned to me. _Four more hours. Aren't you bored, yet?_

I cocked my head at her and brushed a lock of hair away from her forehead. "I don't get bored easily these days," I said softly.

_These days? _"Post-Bella?" she asked aloud.

I quirked an eyebrow at her. She had the right idea, but this was a hair I was ready to split. "I sincerely hope there will never be any post-Bella days, love."

She rolled her eyes at me. _You know what I mean._

I shrugged a single shoulder and grinned a tiny half-smile.

"What should we talk about?" Bella asked softly, now playing with the wedding band on my left hand.

"Rosalie seems to be preparing for war."

_Hey-what?_ Bella gave me a look that spoke of her incredulity.

I shrugged again. "She hasn't actually started stockpiling weapons yet, but it may just be a matter of time. I don't know who she thinks she's going to be fighting, though."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Bella said all at once. "Back up. How do you know this. Did you hear..." she trailed off and gestured with her hand.

I shook my head. "I spend most of my time with you, so I spend most of my time blissfully unaware. But I still pay the bills, and given what she's been charging, I'd be frankly surprised if the FBI doesn't have a file on her. I've been meaning to talk with her about that. Anyway, she started with the theory, and I'm sure she started in Jasper's library, because she only bought pertinent manuals that he didn't already have. But I went sniffing around there, too, once I realized. She's spent some quality time in that room."

"Jasper has his own library?"

I nodded. "Mostly dedicated to warcraft and the history of war."

She gave me a confused look. _Why? _"Why?"

I thought briefly about how much to tell her right now. I leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Jasper was an officer in the civil war before he was changed. And he was recruited from one war to another. Come to think of it, you might not actually be able to _see_ the scars, but he's covered in them - vampire bite marks. To have so many - hundreds, one on top of another - and still be walking marks him as a seriously dangerous individual. I forget that the human eye doesn't actually pick it up."

_Wait, wait, vampire bites leave marks? You never leave marks on me... or can I just not see them? Oh, my god! Does your entirely family know about the fact that you bite me while we're in bed and I'm JUST NOW FINDING OUT?_

Quickly I made to soothe her. "No, no, no," I said, no longer whispering in her ear, but now whispering with my forehead pressed against hers. "I don't leave a mark that anyone can see. Mine is a gentle bite, in fact calling it a 'bite' might actually be a misnomer. It's really more like a slit in your skin, and I heal it the moment after I've gotten what I needed. This is a courtesy rarely extended, however. I did not, for instance, grant it to that tracker when I ripped his throat out. Had he survived he would have had a hellacious scar on his neck, but it would be quite faint, I believe, to the human eye."

Bella's breathing and heart rate began to approach normal and I kissed her for good measure.

"So Rosalie's getting ready for war. And you don't know with who," Bella said, bringing her mind back to the subject matter.

Whom, I mentally corrected. Still, I just nodded.

"Who do you think?" Bella asked.

"I have thought about this, and really the only opponent that makes any sense at all is the Volturi."

_I think I need to talk to Rosalie,_ Bella thought, her mind reeling. _This has got to do with the twins, doesn't it? And the wolves, most likely. Do the Volturi know about Carlisle's treaty?_

I sighed. "It's not clear to me that the Volturi know about shifters at all, to say nothing about the treaty," I whispered, now close to her ear again. "I have heard something from Carlisle about them hunting down and wiping out - possibly to the point of extinction, but probably not - actual honest to God werewolves, the ones whose transformation is involuntarily controlled by the lunar phases, but there again, that's not exactly good news."

"No." _Not good news. So there were real werewolves. I mean, I guess I always think of the pack as werewolves - er, I mean packs. Plural. Packs. Packs of werewolves. But they aren't, huh? So there are __**real**__ werewolves, or there were. Whoh. That's seriously scary._

I snorted, and Bella looked at me. I whispered sharply. "You are completely unfazed by the existence of vampires and tribal shape-shifters, and you're looking forward to _becoming_ the former, and yet you find the idea of _werewolves_ scary? I do _not_ understand you, Isabella Marie Cullen."

I was ready to be engaged in my ranting, but Bella's mind took a sharp left into completely different territory. My use of her full name had derailed her. Werewolves no longer had her attention.

_Isabella Marie Cullen. Swan Cullen. Cullen. Bella Cullen. Bella Cullen, Bella Cullen, Mrs. Bella Cullen... __That's a lot of 'l's._ Quickly though her mind was back to the topic at hand. _Vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters. What else? Are there zombies, too? Do I have to worry about the zombie apocalypse now, too__?_

I frowned. "Not to my knowledge. I've never encountered any, and I've never heard about it from Carlisle, or the Denalis. But there are fairies. But that's a story for another time."

Bella sighed. "No zombies. That's a relief," she murmured. She was still thinking of my comment from before, though, about what she does fear and what she doesn't, and my incredulity on the subject.

Bella turned to me, her head filled with thoughts of her adoration of me. She snuggled up close to me and her hands shifted first to the back of my neck, then to the back of my head where her fingers clutched at my hair, pulling slightly. I had to stop myself from starting to purr. This would not be the place to do that. She pressed her lips to mine and slipped her tongue into my mouth. My hands were at her sides as we savored this deep delicious kiss. Her thoughts came quickly as we did so.

_Of course I'm not afraid of vampires. Why should I be? I mean, sure, I know there are bad ones out there, but there are bad humans out there, too. I'm not afraid of humanity. I'm not afraid of who you are, who your family is - who __**my**__ family is, and I'm not afraid to change, whenever we decide that is going to be. How on earth could I possibly be afraid of you when you are everything I never knew I always needed?_

My heart warmed at her thoughts and I kissed her harder for them. I reacquainted myself with the texture and sweetness of her mouth as my hands maintained a firm hold on the sides of her torso. I let myself be drawn into the infinite lull between one strong heartbeat and the next, focusing on Bella alone; her body, her mind, to the exclusion of all else. Our bodies were responding as if the kiss were foreplay, though, and I had no intention of joining a mile high club today. The scent of Bella's arousal went straight to my head. Difficult as it was, I gently drew the kiss to a close and took the opportunity to pepper her face with tiny kisses... and I will admit, the occasional lick across her cheekbone and jawline. I stayed away from her neck, however. I knew my limits.

***

Alice and Esme met us at the airport. Honestly, you might have thought from her greeting to Bella that Alice had been gone for years instead of two and a half months. I had carried our two mid-sized packs through customs and carried them still, save for a brief interval when my choice was to drop one or be dropped by Alice and her enthusiastic hug. We were a quiet party out to the car - a rented Land Rover with tinted windows - until Bella asked Alice about her travels, at which point we were all treated to the abridged travelogue from the end of June until the present moment. Alice paused when we pulled up to the outskirts, but Esme offered to run the car back to the hotel we were all booked into so Alice could continue. While Alice continued on, I located the sunscreen, bug spray, and running sling. We walked a little ways into the jungle, enough to be hidden from the road, but quickly it became almost impossible for Bella to navigate, so we left our packs for a moment and returned to the side of the road so she could finish preparing herself.

Bella had eaten an apple in the car for lunch and claimed she wasn't hungry for anything else, but I think it had more to do with her desire to put off the inevitable - having to use a hole in the ground as a toilet. Hopefully this leg of the trip would be quickly gone through. Bella and outdoors living were not concepts that mixed well.

When Esme came back several minutes later, we were all packed up and ready. Alice took Bella's pack and Esme took mine. I secured Bella to my back and we were off, running. In a little over two hours we would be standing in front of the adult child of a vampire father and human mother, an ontological match to the twins. Here's to hoping he'd be less churlish in person once he saw Bella's smiling face.

***

**End Chapter, End Book Two**

***

**End Note: **Are you curious about Bella's journal entry? It's already posted in the outtakes - it's in the story entitled 'DVMR: The Outtakes' and it's chapter 5, 'Tiny Bird'. (Can't remember what DVMR stands for? Daily Vampire Mating Ritual - Jacob's derogatory title for B&E's summer of lovin'.) Never heard of these outtake thingies? Go put me on author alert, or just follow my insanity on Twitter (sareliz). Really, they're becoming less outtakey and more vital-to-story-if-not-plot.

**Award update: **Yes! We won two mystic awards. Yay. And now we're up for a Shimmer Award. The url to vote (go vote! go vote!) is on my profile page.

**PPS:** Yes, of _course_ there is going to be a book three. Still, life is crazed just at the moment, so give me some time. It could be a week or two, it could be a month or two. But I will continue this until it is finished...


	37. The Flow

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

**Book Three**: The Adventure Continues  
**Chapter 1**: The Flow  
**Beta:** Colleen P, bless her heart. She has a constitution of iron; she's still with me.  
**Author's Note: **My, it's been a while, huh? Well, I've changed jobs, downsized, and moved, but you know... I think I'm back. You can be the judge of that. :)

***

I love running.

Twelve steps for every one of Bella's resting heartbeats was the soft tattoo that set me on a pace manageable for her. Her thoughts were quiet just now, but mine were racing. It wouldn't be long now, just a few more moments. We'd stopped just ten minutes ago at Bella's request so she could 'use the dirt' - her lovely euphemism for urinating in a hole in the ground - as well as stretch. Her reasoning was sound - she wanted to reach whatever situation awaited us at her best advantage. I agreed with her entirely, even as my thoughts tumbled over themselves.

Would there be a physical threat?

Was I taking Bella into an inherently dangerous situation?

Should I remain partially in Bella's head? Probably not - I would need to monitor not only Nahuel and his companion, but Jasper as well to get a full picture of the situation. I decided to come out now. I reached a hand back and scratched my nails ever-so-gently on the back of her neck and slipped out of her mind as gently as I could manage. It hurt less that way.

Alice had a migraine, and she couldn't see anything - not even things she'd been able to see before. She was still trying to, however, and that was apparently the source of her frustration and physical discomfort.

Esme's thoughts were consumed with worry about the upcoming meeting. I watched memories circle through her thoughts of interactions with Nahuel. He was a strong, tall looking fellow who _looked_ completely adult, and yet still in his prime. I tamped down my slight envy. There were days I didn't enjoy looking seventeen, though it did sometimes work to my advantage . In Esme's thoughts I was able to see the distrust in his eyes as he listened to Carlisle patiently explain what he had undoubtedly already heard in some form from Alice and Jasper. It was all to no avail. Nahuel's father, with whom he was somewhat acquainted, fancied himself a doctor with a specialty in research. This research was apparently carried out by impregnating unsuspecting young women in the jungle, among other things. That Carlisle had at some point self-identified as a doctor did not help his case with Nahuel.

And then suddenly I was in range. At our current speed, the presence of their mental voices - Carlisle, Jasper, Leah, Nahuel, and Huilen - happened quite suddenly. Had we been walking it would have been a gradual increase in volume...

They couldn't hear us yet, but it would only be a moment or two more before they could.

Nahuel's mind was what I was chiefly focusing on, though I also monitored Jasper and Carlisle quite closely to see if there was anything useful, or anything they particularly wanted to communicate to me once they knew we were coming.

And suddenly, I knew from their thoughts that they could finally hear us.

Carlisle told me that no one knew of my abilities, or the depth of my connection with Bella, though they'd tried to convey the depth of my devotion. My mentor also went through the entire conversation he'd had with Nahuel before the latter shut down completely.

Jasper reported that Nahuel's emotions had been utterly chaotic - joyous and hopeful one moment, filled with envy the next, deeply suspicious and distrustful the next, and though they still circled around, the suspicion and distrust were manifest. Jasper had resisted using his talent too blatantly lest Nahuel mark him as antagonistic and thus refuse any and all cooperation, permanently.

Leah was deeply annoyed, and her thoughts raged with it. She was annoyed with Jasper, who had tried to calm her down without her consent. She was annoyed with Carlisle for not being more effective. She was annoyed with herself for not being enough of a people person, for not being able to single-handedly solve this problem for me and Bella. Leah's ability to castigate herself for situations she did not create and for which she bore no true responsibility is unparalleled, I have discovered. Of course Leah was also annoyed that it was taking us too long.

Huilen was less suspicious than Nahuel and seemed much more inclined to help us, but I almost stumbled when I saw the scene of Nahuel's birth in the grainy reel of human memories within her mind. He'd had to... oh, God. I could barely process it. The image of...

I stopped running.

Almost instantly Esme and Alice were next to me, looking at me with concern. Concern was also in Jasper, Carlisle, and Leah's mental voices when they realized almost at the same moment that our party was no longer moving toward them. Only Bella vocalized anything.

"Baby, what's wrong?" she murmured against the shell of my ear even as her arms wrapped tightly around my torso.

I shook my head, though whether or not to indicate that I couldn't say anything, or that I was fine, or that I was completely overwhelmed I wasn't sure.

Nahuel had had to _rip_ his way out of his mother's womb using his own teeth. She was dead by the time he'd finished. Huilen had been bitten by him shortly afterwards, and had woken up a ravenous half-mad newborn who also had the care of the infant half-vampire who had afterwards grown at an alarming rate - almost three times as fast as a normal human.

Nahuel ate the flesh and drank the blood of whatever he'd hunted, and while he was in utero, apparently his late mother had similar cravings.

It was hard after that to concentrate on Nahuel's mind. If Alice hadn't once seen my unborn children so clearly with Bella in the same picture I would have absolutely refused to have children at all in that moment, refused to put Bella through any of that.

The image of the infant Nahuel chewing his way out of the womb that had surrounded and nurtured him still took a preeminent and horrific place in my mind, and nothing could shake it.

Still, we needed to gather all the information we possibly could and then Bella and I would sit down and have a very difficult conversation in which we would decide - together - whether or not having children together was possibly the worst thought we'd ever come up with.

Together. Together, together, together. It was my mantra. I took a deep breath and nodded to Esme and and Alice before craning my neck around and giving Bella a peck on the lips.

"Let's go meet Nahuel, love," I murmured in reply, knowing that we were close enough for him to possibly hear.

And he did hear. His thoughts turned to the somewhat monstrous image of me that he had in his head, and his thoughts of Bella - some strange, vacuous, seduced girl with stars in her eyes. There was not much in his mind that was positive, and I wasn't entirely sure how we should proceed, save with caution.

And then we were before him. He and his companion were twenty or so feet away from the family, where we stopped. Backpacks were piled on the jungle floor and the running harness came off. Bella's legs slipped off my body and her hand slipped into mine. As Bella passed them, she reached out her other hand to silently touch them and be touched in return - first Leah, then Jasper, then Carlisle. Then it was Bella and I as we slowly picked our way through the trees, across the twenty feet that separated us from the tall, dusky skinned half-vampire and his companion.

"Hi. I'm Bella," I heard her say softly in her strong, clear voice, the voice she used when she was feeling particularly confident and calm. I could hear the smile in her voice, and I could see it in Nahuel's mind. She wasn't what he'd expected, and neither was I.

"And I'm Edward."

It confounded him that Bella spoke before me. That simply didn't compute in his world view. I wondered how long it would be before Huilen said anything. I didn't need Jasper to tell me how our simple presence was confusing the two of them.

We waited in silence but nothing was forthcoming from the individuals opposite us.

"Nahuel," Bella started in the same clear tone, "I know you must have questions for us, and we'll be happy to answer anything you like. We were hoping that you might feel comfortable enough to share with us what it's been like for you, and anything Huilen might remember about your mother's pregnancy and your birth. You see, Edward and I would very much like to have children, but we are afraid of what might happen to me in the process, and before we heard about you we were afraid of what sort of child we _could_ have, a human and a vampire. So please, ask us anything you like."

Nahuel was silent. Huilen was silent. The family was silent. Everyone's mind was uncharacteristically and momentarily silent, leaving only the sound of three heart beats and the jungle around us.

_Tomorrow_, was the thought that accompanied the vision of growing dawn in the jungle and it was the only response we received from the couple before they left. Nahuel turned around and ran, Huilen right behind him.

"Huh," Bella and Leah commented at the same moment.

I turned and hugged Bella with my free arm, and slipped my fingers to the back of her neck. I sunk into her mind in the same moment as I rubbed my fingertips gently over the soft skin below her hairline.

_Well. That was interesting. Did that just go as badly as I thought it did?_

I shook my head and addressed Bella and the family both. "They'll be back tomorrow. We weren't what he expected. I think he was slightly overwhelmed," I said as we walked back to the family. He wasn't the only one, actually.

"I'll second that," Jasper said, giving me an odd look. He knew I'd seen something that had set me on edge. He knew I was still there.

"I have a good feeling about this, though," Alice said. "It's going to make a world of difference, just you two being here."

"Yeah, but you don't _know_ that," Leah remarked.

Alice only shrugged, undimmed.

I said nothing to anyone about why I'd stopped while running, and it was a testament to how preoccupied Bella was that she didn't pick up on my distress. Either that, or I was hiding it better than normal, which I honestly thought to be an unlikely scenario.

We set up camp right there, even though it was still early in the afternoon. Two large hammocks - one for Leah, one for Bella and myself - complete with tarps and mosquito netting near a fire-safe area we cleared for cooking. A ways off we dug a simple latrine and showed Bella and Leah how best to use it. We rigged our packs to hang securely in the trees and fetched enough water for the day, and two showers in the morning. Alice rigged a privacy curtain made of sarongs between the trees for the shower itself when it was necessary, and I caught Bella staring at it blowing in the breeze. At first I thought she was interested in a shower, and she was, slightly. She was slightly weary from the journey, and I hesitated to mention my need to talk with her, to talk this out, but I knew she'd berate me if she found out I'd refrained from saying anything at all.

Leah was lounging in her hammock reading a book and the others, save Carlisle, had gone hunting and likely would not be back until morning. Carlisle was also reading, sitting on a tree branch above Leah.

I approached Bella and ran my hand lightly up her back, wishing for an impossible moment that I could speak to her in my head, the way she could of me. It was fleeting.

_What is it, sweetheart?_ she asked, turning her head so she could meet my eyes.

"I should to hunt," I said. I omitted the other part of my distress. The thought of what the twins might have to do to get out of Bella once it was time for her to give birth was still an image horrific to me. I tried to shut it up in a separate part of my brain and shut the door, as I'd watched Bella do. I wasn't anything like as successful as she always was.

_Okay. Where did we put the harness? Are you going to try and get some of that monkey like the others were talking about earlier? Hmm. I wonder what that tastes like. I look forward to your opinion on the subject._

"Bella," I said, interrupting her. "You don't have to come with me if you're too tired. You'll be safe with Carlisle and Leah, and I'll be back as soon as I can. I just need to take the edge off. This is all stressful enough without adding the hunger to it as well," I said.

It was strange. Firmly ensconced in Bella's mind I didn't feel the burn of the thirst, or the pangs of hunger should I go too long without eating, and yet I still managed to get grouchy and short-tempered when I was hungry. Bella's words. And as stressful as this situation was, and as much time as I will probably need to spend outside of Bella's head... I really needed to hunt.

She turned and wrapped her arms around my neck and my own came around her waist quite naturally.

"It's four o'clock in the afternoon, Edward. We crossed no time zones. I'll admit this has been a somewhat emotionally fraught day and it's true that I could be easily persuaded to go to sleep early, but not this early. We'll feed you, then we'll feed me, and _then_ I'll sleep, if you don't mind."

I grinned despite myself and kissed her lightly. Against her lips I whispered, "I'm sorry, is that a trace of the sassy cat, I hear?"

_No. No sassy cat__, here._ Her mind was racing with the last time that phrase was used between us - I'd handed her a serving of sarcasm and she hadn't enjoyed it at all. She'd neatly avoided recognizing her own nagging behavior in that past moment, and I hadn't called her on it at the time, but sarcasm hid something, and I wanted to know what it was. Also, the implied threat of withholding sex... well, it was mean, but that's why I only implied it. I'd never go through with it.

Bella hid her face in my chest as she held me tight.

"Then what's going on? Just tell me." God, I was such a hypocrite. I would tell her after I'd fed. Well, after we'd had sex, after I'd fed.

_Don't leave me. Seriously, don't leave me for an instant out here. What I said before about that being okay? Like, if you needed to catch up with Alice or something? I changed my mind. Nahuel gives me the creeps, ditto Huilen__, to say nothing of the rest of the Amazon Jungle. And I'm not tired enough to even think twice about going hunting with you, but honestly? Even if I was? And yes, I would tell you, but even if I was, even then you'd have to pry my cold, dead fingers off you to get away from me. Even tired I'd want to go with you, and given what seems to happen each time you hunt, even tired I'd probably still want you, at least a little bit..._

I stroked the back of her head and pressed my lips to her crown. "Thank you for telling me," I said softly.

_Thanks for calling me on it. I mean, I guess it's better to just be clear, I mean for me to just be clear about what's going on inside of me instead of being snippy to you. It's just... it's... nothing has happened, I mean, I said 'hi' and he ran the other way, and yet this is all really stressful and stuff. And have I mentioned lately that I don't like camping?_

I continued to hold her and stroke her back. "I'll never make you go camping when we can avoid it," I promised her. "And you're right. It is stressful." Dear God in Heaven, it's stressful. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who was feeling it. It's not that I _want_ you to be stressed and upset, but sometimes you seem so perfect to me that it's... a little daunting. It's nice to know you're still human," I whispered to her.

Bella snorted and mumbled against my shirt, "That makes one of us."

I sighed and smiled. "That's not what I meant, and you must know it. But regardless of your perfection or lack thereof, I adore you. And I'm hungry. So let's go get the harness and get me something to eat, hmm?"

_You got it, handsome. But the harness is up to you. God only knows where you stashed the thing._

I'd retrieved the harness and returned before she had time to blink twice.

Hunting was hunting, and I was not enough of an aficionado to appreciate the differences in venue and menu, particularly with the images of a savage infant mauling its mother to death from the inside out, then attacking his aunt immediately afterwards still haunting me. It was true, the monkey did taste different, and certainly better, but after a steady diet of Bella's blood, the difference was minute at best. I only took one. I only needed to keep the hunger at bay. After putting some distance between ourselves and the remains of my meal, I put Bella at some distance from her clothes. I checked first to make sure it was what she wanted. We were in the middle of nowhere, after all, and conditions were not ideal for much of anything, but she assured me in no uncertain terms, so I continued.

It was the least savage of all of our post-hunting sessions to date, and I wished that I could be inside of her mind at the same time, though that was not our custom. To ask would have produced more questions than I wanted to answer just yet, so I refrained and instead took solace in my love's embrace.

I stood in the jungle, holding Bella to me, supporting her in my arms as her legs flexed around my hips. The feeling was exquisite and I made no effort to hold out for anything. I wanted to come as quickly as possible. I wanted to come, and then slip inside of her head and help her reach her release as I came again to the instant and erotic stimulus of her blood.

I could hear her gentle mind softly, beckoning me as she moaned and took deep, gulping breaths. I imagined all that was erotic so I could finish quickly and thus slip into her mind.

I imagined myself chained to our bed, again, except this time I was face first in her pussy, easing her cramps the way I enjoyed best.

I imagined a more durable Bella screaming out orgasm after orgasm as I unrelentingly ate her pussy for days on end.

I imagined taking her in every single one of the classrooms we've shared over the last year. By the time I was fucking her in the emptiness of the boy's locker room shower - with all the showers near us on, naturally - I was spilling my seed into her scorching heat. I shivered, and it had nothing to do with the orgasm. Normally thoughts of getting Bella pregnant were happy ones, slightly sensual ones if I was being totally honest, but now it only left a dreadful feeling inside.

I held her in stillness for a moment, my face buried in her neck.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I can't... I need..."

_What do you need, sweetheart? Anything you need. Anything._ Her mental voice was soft, as I was still outside, but it was clear.

"Inside. Please." Why I couldn't form coherent sentences I didn't want to consider. "_Please," _I added with feeling.

_Of course._ Before she'd actually finished the sentiment, however, I'd slipped in and groaned. Oh, God, I was _home._

Bella was curious about my behavior, but she was assuming for the moment that it was just stress in general. She had no inkling that something more specific may have occurred. But I was hard again, and my Universe consisted of Bella. I brought her to orgasm forthwith and followed swiftly afterwards, filling my mouth with two ounces of the sweetest nectar on earth.

She was still cooing to me out loud and from within when I rearranged us so I could sit on the forest floor and she could make herself as comfortable as could be expected in my lap. I held her then, our naked bodies pressing against one another as she curled up on top of me. I did my best to create a comfortable seat for her, holding my torso at such an angle as might be best for her. Perfectly ensconced in her mind, the animal sounds of the jungle were returning full force now that my predator was put away, and had been for some moments. I could hear the heart beats and shuffling of jungle creatures of all sizes. There were four large monkeys that I was keeping one track of my consciousness monitoring, but nothing that seemed slightly threatening.

_I suppose we should put our clothes back on and head back. _She was kissing my neck as she thought this. _Kinda hot and sweaty, though. The cold feels __**so**__ good, baby._

I stroked her absentmindedly and sighed. Before she had a chance to ask, I told her what was on my mind.

"I saw something very disturbing in Huilen's mind as we approached. It's why I stopped running. There wasn't time to mention it before we met them, and then after... Honestly, after I just couldn't go into it with the family there, not with only half the picture. I mean, I saw a lot. Enough, perhaps, but I'm sure there's more and it might... well, it might make the overall picture better, or it might turn out to be worse."

Bella raised her head and I saw the growing fear in her eyes. "Tell me. Everything."

I nodded and tried to make sense of it all as I told her. I was clear about what I'd seen, and I was clear as I made inferences that might not necessarily be true.

_Okay, okay, okay. What do we know? _Then she answered her own question. "We know that the birth itself is difficult. We know I'm going to have some weird-ass cravings, but we'd suspected as much. We know that the twins are going to be fine. We already know I can survive this, or at least... I... I can survive it long enough to be turned." She was quiet for a moment, and I heard her swallow. Her heart beat was fast. "We suspect that the birth might be easier with a midwife who knows what's happening, as opposed to one poor, confused human with no medical training at all. We have Carlisle. We can have... we can have a c-section, or something. I mean, we have a lot more options than they did."

She was quiet for a while.

"Bella," I said quietly. "You didn't see it. Nahuel had to _eat_ his way out of his mother. It was something out of a nightmare, or the most terrifying horror film. And the first thing he did when he was out was _bite_ Huilen and turn her. She hated him for years. I don't know how old they are, but I'm guessing they're older than I am. And his mother, her body - it was broken, and torn, and... _Bella._" My arms tightened around her body. "I can't ever see you like that. Nothing, _nothing_, could tempt me to want something that could leave you like that. Not even the twins." I paused then, and added in a whisper, "I don't know if I can do this, Bella. The possibility... I don't know if I can do this."

We held one another naked on the jungle floor, and in her mind we were in the same position in our bed.

_That's bad. That's really bad. Oh, Edward, I'm so sorry you had to see that. That's horrible, even standing alone, that's horrible. I mean, even without our own questions, and us having children, if you'd just met them because of whatever, and you saw that, or if Alice had seen something like that... Wait, what did Alice see? I mean, think back to the vision, and what you saw. Did my stomach look ripped open, or... um, oh it so gross even to think of it... um, did it look... chewed? Oh, God, that's disgusting. Anyway, did it?_

I shook my head. The cut was clean - not so much as to suggest a scalpel, mind, but much cleaner and neater than I imagined possible for anyone tearing in with their teeth over such an area. The area wasn't ripped and torn, as would be necessary if someone had used their teeth from the inside or out. It wasn't a wound from a set of teeth; it was clearly a cut done by something singular and sharp, like a knife or... or a claw? I told Bella as much.

_Okay. Okay. Let's remember that Nahuel's poor mother was obviously abandoned by his father who was the only one who might have had a clue about this at the time. She had no prenatal care. She was uneducated, living in the middle of a jungle, and it was at least a hundred years ago, but maybe more. She went into labor in order to give birth to something not entirely human and she did it either alone, or only with her sister who knew less than she did. She died. It's horrible, and it's tragic, but under those circumstances, could we really have expected her to live? The cards were stacked against her._

_The cards are not stacked against us. You are not going to abandon me. We are going to have the best prenatal care that Carlisle can provide, and I promise to you right now -- _"and I'll even _**say**_ it out loud, I promise to you right now Edward, and you can hold me to this, that whatever Carlisle says I need to do to stay healthy, I'll do, without complaint." _And we don't live in the middle of a jungle, and we know a lot about fetuses and gestation, and you and Carlisle have so much medical knowledge, and I get that the twins wouldn't be human and they wouldn't be vampire, but something between, but we've got humans, and we've got vampires, and we've even got shapeshifters__._

I wasn't sure what it was that clicked in my head, but just then I connected something in the vision to an event today.

"Huilen. Huilen was there. In the vision, she's there when you give birth to the twins."

"Well, that makes sense. She was there when Nahuel was born, it makes sense that if she's willing we'd want her there. Still slightly creeptastic, I'll grant you, but let's hope that will pass. The red eyes really are seriously freaky. I noticed that Nahuel doesn't have them." _Isn't that strange? A half-vampire can make a full vampire? That's weird. I wonder if she's not quite a full vampire. That's weird. But I got side tracked. _"Let's revisit the most important point. You're not going to abandon me. _**Our family**_ is not going to abandon us. That really is the most important part, because if something happens, even if something bad happens, then you are going to get those children out of me yourself, and you are going to change me into a vampire a.s.a.p., and it's going to be crazy and stressful and scary, but three days later you'll still be a daddy and I'll still be a mommy, and I'll be awake and I'll have won my bet. Don't think I've forgotten."

I smiled and laughed just a tiny bit, even despite the seriousness of our conversation up until now. Leave it to Bella to think of sex even now. Then again, I was capable of no less, really.

We were both quiet for a little while before I broke our silence.

"I love you so much, Bella. And I'm so happy that we could be parents, that I could be a _father_... not even in my wildest imaginings did I ever think it was possible. And I'm so terrified, knowing how badly it could turn out. But... you're right. We searched out someone like Nahuel because we wanted to learn everything we could, so we could avoid fatal mistakes. I suppose... I suppose I just didn't think I'd witness the memory of those fatal mistakes, unavoided in someone else's experience. I suppose I assumed that if we found someone... their story wouldn't be quite so tragic."

Bella's hands in my hair felt wonderful. "I know, baby. It sounded horrible. I'm so sorry you had to see that. And you know, this might have occurred to you already, but if Nahuel and Huilen do in fact decide to help us out, it's only going to get worse. I mean, we're sort of asking Huilen to relive a bunch of memories that can't be wonderful for her, and you're going to get to see them all, too. And maybe they won't be so emotionally loaded for you, but they might be pretty moving anyway. Just remember that I'm here. I'm here, and I love you, and I want to know. And if we need to discuss it in private, we can go for a run and get some privacy that way, or we have your journal. There's always time for it, Edward. We can make time. You're important to me. We'll make time."

She was thinking of earlier today. She surmised rightly that I'd put off telling her anything for convenience sake. She'd figured out that if she hadn't gone hunting with me, I might have put off telling her about my discomfort and my experience in Huilen's mind indefinitely. I didn't know whether I should apologize or declare my devotion.

I decided on both.

"Let's get dressed and we'll see what happening for dinner for you and Leah. Are you certain you don't want to try some monkey? There are several in the trees around us even now."

Bella made a face as she reached for her shirt and shook it out. _No, thank you. It was... weird, when you caught one. I mean, its face looked so... expressive__. Deer's face? Not so much. Even that jaguar wasn't so bad, and I get that monkey tastes, like, worlds better than anything else, but it was creepy. Too close to humanity on the evolutionary tree for me._

Oh, fuck. Does this mean that Bella thought less of me for eating something that was so close to human beings? For one irrational moment I wondered what color my eyes were. Hell. Was it just going to be one thing after another in this god-forsaken jungle? Suddenly wary and perhaps just slightly paranoid, I slipped back out of Bella's mind and scanned the area as she was slowly dressing, and as I had just finished putting my own clothes on as quickly as I could.

Oh fuck.

My mind spiraled in several different directions all at once.

How long had Nahuel been sitting in the trees, his heartbeat masked by the monkeys, his scent downwind? Not when my mind had been unencumbered whilst I was hunting. He hadn't been around then. Not when Bella and I had been having sex - I still wasn't in her mind. Or, probably not then. Come to think of it, I might not have noticed. No, I probably would have. Shit.

Where was Huilen? She could be hiding just as easily, knowing how to mask her scent and with no tell-tale heart to expose her. But no, I would be able to taste her mind if she were within five miles of us.

Where was my family? No one was in range. Damn. And Nahuel was with us, so Alice couldn't see. Then again, if Alice had been monitoring us, she would have seen when we disappeared. She would know that I wouldn't like the 1:1 ratio I had at present. I had no idea how fast he could run, how strong he would be, what his style of attack might be like, if he even came in peace...

Was he going to attack? Did I need to run? Could I be stronger than him - would his hybrid nature be a help or a hindrance for him in this situation? He was bigger, and possibly older than I was. It's likely he's spent more of his life fighting than I have. We wanted his cooperation, but if we never got anything else out of him, I really did think we had enough to go on, just from Huilen's spontaneous recollection alone. How far on the defensive should I go? As it is he was spying on us - he might not have meant that as offensive behavior, however much I understood it to be.

Protect Bella. Protect Bella. Protect Bella.

His mind yielded nothing. He was observing us and not thinking just at present, unless he had some unforseen mental ability.

I crossed the few feet that put my body between his and hers, and even though he was fifty yard away and in the trees, I felt better for it.

Still, Nahuel's mind remained blank.

"Time to go, Bella," I said. He had undoubtedly heard the majority of our conversation. I had to assume he had. This meant that he probably knew of my gift. Fuck.

I could hear Bella's mental voice whisper something about her other shoe. "Carry your shoe. It really is time to go."

She wanted to know what was going on, but at least she was thinking that even as she climbed onto my back. I strapped her in quickly, as quickly as I was able and reached around to support the back of her head. "Don't move your head, arms in, tuck in the shoe, close your eyes." I was stalling. I didn't like the idea of turning my back on Nahuel, but neither did I want to spend any time at all with him when I didn't out number him. Still, once she did all of these things a better plan hadn't come to mind. Her heart was racing and I think she figured out I wasn't in her head, and she was in danger.

I was off like a shot, and to hell with starting slowly. I held the back of her head and ran faster than I ever thought I could, carrying an extra hundred pounds. I was almost as fast as I normally was, and I would guess, still faster than Carlisle and Jasper. A small part of my brain wondered if I was producing adrenaline.

He wasn't following. I didn't slow.

Three minutes later we were back at camp and I felt better for having Carlisle and Leah near at hand. I slowed to a stop and unbuckled Bella, spinning quickly to catch her as she slid off my back somewhat unsteadily. I slipped back into her mind as my fingers gently caressed the back of her neck, partially to let her know, partially to ease the tense muscles.

_Edward, what is going on, tell me right this instant, what was that back there, and you weren't in my mind, and I'm totally freaked out right now so you'd better start talking--_

"Shhh, we're safe now," I said, hugely relieved and holding her close to me. I walked her over to the hammock and we sat in it together, as if it were a couch. At my words, Leah perked up and laid her book on her stomach, and Carlisle was in front of us with a worried look on his face.

I still had an arm around Bella when I started to speak. "Just before we left, I got a little paranoid, and so I came out of your mind, love. It was then that I realized that Nahuel was in the trees around us. The wind was such that I didn't smell him, and he'd masked the sounds of his arrival, I think, as well as the sounds of his heartbeat with the presence of the monkeys around us. I believe he was only there when we started our conversation," I said, mostly for Bella's benefit, so she would realize that he had most certainly missed the spectacle of our intimacy, or, well, most of it. Granted, he was privy to the spectacle of our naked conversation afterwards. I didn't like that.

Neither did Bella, I was unsurprised to find out. She spluttered in her mind as Leah asked her question.

"He hear anything good? Or bad, as the case may be?"

I sighed, nodding. "It's likely he knows about my gift." I decided to wait on saying anything about what I saw until the others returned. It wasn't a story I wanted to repeat too many times.

_That's not all he knows about! But okay. This... this could turn out to be a good thing._

"What?" I gasped.

"What?" both Leah and Carlisle echoed at the same moment.

"This could turn out to be a good thing."

"I'm listening," I said, unconvinced.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe. First, tell me what you heard from his mind."

"Nothing," I said. "I think he was just listening. Sometimes it's like that. And I didn't like the odds, so I got us out of there before I heard anything at all."

Bella nodded beside me. "Okay, yeah. So, here's how I think this could maybe be a good thing. Think about the parts of our conversation that were out loud. They were all about, like, how worried you are, and how you and the family would never abandon me no matter what happens. And at least at the tail end of this, Nahuel wasn't thinking, he was listening. I'm going to go ahead and guess that he was _still_ listening - and intently. That kind of listening you do when your mind isn't somewhere else, or where you're not judging and weighing everything that gets said, you're just soaking it all in. I really don't think it's ever a bad thing when someone really, really listens to someone else. I mean, that's the only way we can ever get out of our own provincial thinking - isn't that what you called it the other day?"

We were silent for a moment as we digested that.

"Look. No matter what, we have maybe enough to go on with what you saw in Huilen's mind--" At this I got sharp and concerned looks from both Carlisle and Leah. "But this is probably a lot for Nahuel to swallow. I think we should give him some time." _As much as it pains me to say that. 'Cause you know I really am not the jungle type, baby. _"But not too much time. But let's give him a few days, at least."

I nodded, and at the inquiring looks I got, responded to the questions in their gazes. "I saw Nahuel's birth from Huilen's perspective. It wasn't at all pleasant, but it was... instructive. I really don't want to have to explain it twice, however, so I'd prefer to save the details for when Jasper, Alice and Esme return."

Carlisle nodded his understanding and Leah acquiesced as well, though not without some small amount of petulance.

We sat in a sombre silence for only a few moments before Bella broke it, giving me a squeeze and grinning up at me. "So. What's for dinner? Trail mix and dried jerky?"

***

Bella had been sleeping quite fitfully for the first six hours, but in the last two she had finally calmed somewhat. I curled myself around her and when Jasper, Alice, and Esme returned several hours into her hushed sleep, we woke Leah and spoke briefly and quickly about my earlier experience. They'd come around Bella's hammock to do this, however, as I refused to leave her even that much. It could be that I was being over protective, and it was possible I was paranoid, but I wasn't willing to take any more chances than already necessary.

When Nahuel and Huilen arrived at dawn, they arrived not running on the ground, but running and jumping through the trees. Huilen stopped a few trees away, but Nahuel was on the tree to which the head of our hammock was secured. He climbed down and effectively hung upside down less than twenty feet above us. By this point the family surrounded us as well, Alice and Leah keeping their eye on Huilen. I readied myself to curl protectively around Bella if the need should arise.

Nahuel was quiet as was everyone else for several moments. I slipped out of Bella's mind as gently as I could and braced myself for the bombardment of five anxious multi-tasking vampire minds and two additional ones that came awfully close.

Alas, there was no preparing for that sort of thing.

Finally, Nahuel spoke.

"You are full vampire, yet you lay with her as she sleeps. Why?" I didn't sleep, and it didn't compute for him why I should, in essence, be pretending to do so.

Honesty. I knew if Bella were awake, she would insist, or at least hope, for me to answer honestly.

"Because I love her," I said. "Because it calms me to be with her like this. Because this place is unfamiliar and frightening to her. Because I could not be anywhere else."

"Love," he said. Jasper reported his confusion, not that it played out at all in his voice. He was remembering an interaction with another vampire - his father? - and other vampires - or half-vampires, his sisters, perhaps? _"Join us, Nahuel, my son. We are the ones who understand you. We are the ones who love you." _

"Bella is my mate. She is the other half of who I am. The rest of my family have found their mates, and I am the last to do so. Bella will be with me for the rest of both of our lives."

Nahuel looked like he was digesting that, but quickly his eyes darted to Leah, awake and grumpy.

"Leah is the most recent addition to our family, but she had discovered her mate before she came to us. He was unable to accompany us." True, all true... in a manner of speaking.

"What is she?" Nahuel asked me, still staring at her. I could hear Leah bristling. I looked over to her and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm a shapeshifter," she said more or less politely.

I watched Nahuel's brows furrow in confusion. He didn't understand. When Leah glanced at me I quirked my eyebrow at her again.

"I turn into a big fucking wolf." _And if you so much as move a inch toward Bella and Edward, you're going to see just how fast I can do that._

"We did not expect you to return so early in the day," I said, bringing the attention off from Leah, lest she do something rash and wonderful, like transforming on the spot.

Ah, yes. And that was the other reason for changing the subject. Nahuel's thoughts revealed that he had meant to catch us while Bella was asleep. For whatever his reasons, he felt uncomfortable speaking to her, and being spoken to by her, but it was something more than simple misogyny. If I wasn't very much mistaken, he was starting to understand Bella as something of a mother figure, and he was intimidated and fascinated by her in turns.

Just so long as he didn't get too fascinated.

His thoughts quickly returned to my declaration before he'd gotten sidetracked by Leah's presence. He quickly looked around himself and noticed, perhaps for the first time that Jasper and Alice were a couple, and that Carlisle and Esme were a couple. Leah was spoken for. He glanced back at Huilen as well, and thought about the fact that they were together, family, but not a couple. He wondered if that was how it was supposed to be, how vampires were supposed to be; coupled.

Knowing how disconcerting it can be when I answer aloud questions posed silently in someone else's head, particularly when the person in question wasn't used to it, I kept quiet. I waited for him to decide to say something.

His thoughts ranged, and I wondered if he remembered that I could hear him, or perhaps he considered that it was only applicable between Bella and I. He'd come across us just as we were finishing yesterday, only moments after I'd sunk into Bella's mind and come a second time. He'd half hoped he could manage to catch us again this morning. He found it fascinating and arousing.

I was annoyed by this short round of thinking, but not so angry as Bella might have been. I was used to witnessing other people having sex, and having my family inevitably witness in some form or another, Bella and I having sex. The fact that it aroused him when he had no other outlet but a continued voyeuristic episode with Bella and me bothered me, but as I had no intention of offering him a repeat performance, it was only bothersome and not reproachable.

He was also thinking about his two encounters with his father. Judging from Nahuel's memories, he was a seriously unpleasant fellow.

"You say that you saw my birth. You read Huilen's mind. How do you do this?" he asked, shifting his perch slightly. The way he shifted made me think that he _had_ to shift rather than the shifting I and my family do to try to fit in with others. That was something to consider. His heart beat, though obviously not at a human rate, he seemed to need to breathe, and he couldn't maintain the sort of stillness that we could. He really was human. Perhaps he was not _entirely_ human, but he was _definitely_ human.

I considered my answer for a brief moment before responding, but I opted to go with the truth. "It's what I do. I see and hear what is in other people's minds, when I want to do so," I said very softly. "Bella helps me to control that," I added, but as I feared, she began to wake. Undoubtedly it was as I spoke her name. I mused that this was the first time I hadn't woken her in some decidedly intimate fashion since she started hunting with me on my birthday. Six months. I wondered if she would be discernibly crankier this morning for the change.

Without waiting for Nahuel's response, should it be immediately forthcoming, I turned to the fragile love I held in my arms. I slipped back into her mind, secure for the moment in the family that surrounded us.

Her mind was soft and foggy, and she'd been dreaming of something of which I only caught the edges. I was sad to have missed it. Holding her close to me I shifted slightly so I could brush my lips by her ear as I whispered softly to her.

"Bella, wake up, love. We have guests."

_Edward. Guests. Edward. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep..._

"No, sweetheart, don't go back to sleep." She was a little closer now. "I promise that when this is over you can sleep as long as you want and no one will bother you. But for now you need to join us in this waking world."

Bella moaned a little and shifted, wiggling the hammock and causing it to swing even more than it already was from my own movements. I resumed my position to the side, still holding her closely, still ready to cover should Nahuel do something stupid - unlikely, but not unfathomable. Bella turned toward me and when her eyes opened, and her dazed mind joined us I knew I was the only thing that filled her vision. I knew she didn't yet realize that we were literally surrounded by people. She smiled at me, a soft curling of the corners of her mouth, and it disarmed me. Smile still in place, her eyes darted upwards and all hell broke loose.

Bella screamed.

The sound pierced the air in such a startling and blood curdling manner that Leah shifted on the spot, shredding her clothes around her until she stood on all fours, growling, with nothing but the thick platinum chain around her neck that held her crest. Nahuel instantly jumped from his perch to much higher up and several trees away. Alice, snarling, had jumped onto the tree, facing Nahuel just above where our hammock was tethered, and I had curled my body around Bella's head and torso, snapping myself out of her head and diving head first into the shattered morass of the minds of the assembled company. I admit, I was growling too.

Bella's heart rate shot up instantly and her body went rigid in that moment, only to loosen slightly five seconds later. Her fingers clutched at my shirt as her heart fluttered. A very, very small part of me was happy that Bella had this reaction. It was a visceral, unmistakable and totally honest response to how bloody inappropriate Nahuel's presence was at this hour. I was only ashamed that I had hadn't called his visit to a close earlier.

Carlisle was speaking with Nahuel, coaxing him to give the family some time - concepts of minutes and hours were lost on him, but he understood 'a part of the morning' - and Jasper was calming us all down with incredible subtlety. If I hadn't experienced it myself several times before, I would have thought it was uncanny, but natural. Esme was attempting to make contact with Huilen, but it was all for naught. Huilen was busy disapproving of Nahuel's fascination with Bella and was secretly smiling at the girl for her response to him. It's the response she wished her sister had had to his father. But at the same time she worried what effect this would have on him. She cared for him, as much as she seemed to loathe him, or have vivid memories of loathing him.

They left quickly.

I managed to tame my growl until it was nothing but the last hum before silence. After that it was almost completely silent. The mammals and reptiles were silent, causing no noise in the presence of such predators, and it was only the insects and the movement of the trees themselves that caused the sound around us. It was very quiet, indeed, save for the minds surrounding us.

I felt Bella's hands move around me even as I shifted off of her and returned to her side, pulling the thin blanket close about her body.

I could still hear Nahuel and Huilen - they were a few miles away and whispering to each other. If they spoke in a normal tone we would be able to hear them, but as it was I could still hear their minds. Huilen was furious at her nephew. Whatever it was she was saying to him, I could hear her thoughts quite clearly.

_You do not know good people. You have never known good people, so perhaps I should not be so angry, but these are good people! That boy loves her, loves her like I wish your mother could have been loved, like I wish I could have been loved. If you do not help them, that is your choice. I am ashamed of you, but it is your choice. But I will help them, if they are still willing to receive it._

And then I could tell that she was approaching alone. I spoke quickly to my family, but slowly enough that Bella could process what I said.

"Huilen is returning in order to help us."

"I still haven't brushed my teeth," Bella said softly, into my shirt.

_Nor have you had your coffee_, I thought privately to myself.

"I think I'd like to have this conversation sitting up," Bella said, again softly.

I shifted with her until we were sitting in the hammock as if it were a couch, facing the direction from which Huilen would be approaching. Bella tucked the thin blanket around our hips and bare thighs - we were both wearing clothes, but there wasn't much to them to be honest. I had my left arm around Bella's upper back, giving her a little bit more support so she could be comfortable for longer in this position. I turned to her and smiled when she snuggled into my side and put on hand on my left thigh, over the blanket.

Leah padded around to the other side so she was directly in front of us, only two feet away. Achieving her ideal location, she sat down.

"Leah, could you move to one side or the other?" Bella asked quietly. Neither one of us could see to where Huilen was likely to be, past the hulking form of Leah as a wolf.

The wolf cub let out a low grunt that didn't sound promising. _No._

"Please? Just a little?"

Leah shifted two inches to the left before settling again.

"Leah," Bella said, her tone conveying her repeated request.

The wolf snorted and sighed and moved two feet to the left, still partially obscuring Bella's form and providing a physical barrier for which I have to admit I was grateful. Still, Bella would be able to see.

"Thank you," Bella said softly, just as Huilen joined us again. She slowed from a run to a walk when she came into sight through the trees and thick vegetation just over twenty feet away from our assembled group.

We watched as Huilen's eyes darted around to each of us.

_Is this true, that you can hear me, now?_ she asked silently, her eyes lighting on me, her mind a whirlwind, but that question at least clear and steady in the midst of the chaos.

"Yes, I can hear you," I answered clearly and distinctly. I ignored Leah and Alice's disappointed thoughts. I would tell them everything, later.

_Good. I will tell you this way._ And then I was bombarded with everything she'd experienced, everything she could remember about the secret seduction of her sister, the ensuing pregnancy, the traumatic birth, her own change, raising Nahuel and the eventual return of his father.

The flash flood of memories were almost too much to process, but I caught them all in the net of my mind and managed not to feel swept away. My sense of time was compromised, but I was anchored by Bella's heart beat. According to my anchor, only forty seconds had passed.

I took a slow, deep breath then and pulled Bella just a tiny bit closer to me. I felt the pressure of her hand on my thigh increase slightly. _Whatever it is, baby, I'm with you,_ I heard her soft mental voice whisper across me.

"Thank you, Huilen. That will be very helpful for us. Bella and I wanted to know if you would be willing to be present for the birth. It may still be a year or two, yet. We haven't decided, but we would be honored if you would join us for it."

_Yes. Someone will come for me?_

"Yes," I said simply. "Thank you."

She left then, and the family was bursting with questions.

I took a deep breath and shifted, taking Bella with me as I sunk back into the hammock, laying down in it properly and cuddling her to me. She wiggled and squirmed until she was comfortable and I was glad that her comfort seemed to involve her hands combing through my hair over and over again. It was quite relaxing.

"Will someone please make Bella and Leah some coffee while we do this?" I asked quietly. Jasper started making a small campfire almost immediately.

I took another deep breath and plunged in. Leah shifted and changed as I told the story of Huilen's confusion at her sister's initial disappearance and odd behavior. I tried, as I continued on, to parse out what was personal information and what could be generalized to our situation - matters of physiology, hormones and the like. I described the physical toll that the pregnancy, short though it was, took on Nahuel's mother, and I could hear Carlisle making detailed notes in his head about his own theories and possible ways to mitigate the pain and suffering. Once Nahuel started kicking, he started doing significant damage to his mother and I couldn't help but to imagine the same happening to Bella. I described the look and feel of the pregnancy, and everything that Huilen found odd or strange, from the firmness of her sister's abdomen to her propensity to eat raw meat and lap at the blood. I skipped the birth, as I had already described it once and could not bear to do so again. I continued with Huilen's recollections of Nahuel's very abbreviated childhood. Midway through we shifted so Bella could sit up and drink her coffee.

When I was finished, Bella piped up. She squeezed me tightly before she began.

"I vote we pack up and get out of here. We can discuss this on the way, and I know that I, for one, will be able to think much more rationally when I have had a real shower and food from an actual kitchen. No offense, Jasper. The coffee was a life saver."

I saw as Jasper smiled silently at her. _No problem, little sister_, he thought.

Leah was in agreement, and as most of the rest of us did not have a preference, my only one being Bella's comfort, we packed up quickly and were on our way. While this happened, Carlisle was forming plans of action, which he would periodically share with the group.

"Bella, you might still be receptive to ultrasound. We can get one in the house. Everything we need should be in the house, I think. But we have plenty of time to prepare."

A moment or two later, he added, "Bed rest is going to be key, after the first few weeks. It may be tiresome, Bella, but the last thing we'll want to do is provide extra moment and extra strain on your body. There will be enough strain quite naturally as it is. No lifting, no bending over, and really, I don't see that you'll need to walk. Stand, occasionally, perhaps to be showered, but the bathtub in your and Edward's room should suffice. It may be a tiresome six weeks for you, my dear, but we want you around for much longer than that, so I hope you will be willing to put yourself out in this way."

Bella responded in the affirmative from her place on my back as we all ran toward Manaus, air-conditioning, hot water, and flush toilets.

"This also means, quite obviously, no hunting with Edward, or running for that matter, and absolutely no vigorous sex. Exceedingly gentle sex should be alright for the first few weeks, but once the babies start moving, you might want to consider manual stimulation, only."

A few moments later, Carlisle continued. "Edward, I have a feeling that you will not want to leave Bella's side during this time, but I must insist that you feed, and perhaps it would be well to keep to something like your normal schedule - weekly, that is. And it seems as if Bella will need alternate sustenance in addition to her usual diet almost immediately."

Some time later, Carlisle continued. "I feel that we should be ready, Bella, to change you at a moment's notice, anytime from the moment the twins are out of you. Is this agreeable to you?"

"Absolutely," she said quietly. "Edward and I haven't talked much about when to change me if it's _not_ an emergency, but we're both pretty clear that if it _becomes_ an emergency, that's... you know, priority number one."

"What about an injection of venom straight into the heart? From a syringe, I mean," I said.

Carlisle was thoughtful for a brief moment as he ran to my left. "I like it." _Morphine. Morphine might also help with the pain of it, if we could get enough into her bloodstream before the venom, if there's time._

"I've been thinking about the c-section part," Bella said softly. "I mean, about what Alice and Edward have seen, and what Huilen said about her sister's abdomen being super hard." _And about our plans to have Leah tattoo Edward by cutting through his skin with one of her claws...ever so carefully. No way is my tummy going to be harder than Edward's skin. Maybe just as hard, but certainly not harder. Wow, that's going to be weird. But no weirder than actually getting pregnant in the first place, I guess._

"Bella, you're _brilliant._" Her mind really did make connections that astounded and humbled me. Why didn't I think of that?

"Share with the class," Alice said calmly from behind us.

"Leah, how do you feel about midwifery?" I asked the wolf who loped along next to me on my right side.

_What do you mean? Like breathing coaches and cutting the cord and stuff? You know I'd do anything for you guys, but I don't want to fuck it up, you know?_

Carlisle was on the same page with us, but he was the only one.

"There are only a few things that could tear or cut into a vampire's skin. I think we can safely say that Bella's abdomen might be as strong as that, but probably no stronger. We _will_ need to perform a c-section, and we will need to do it before Bella goes into labor, as that seemed to be the beginning of the end for Huilen's sister. Of all the things that _could_ cut through something as resilient as our skin, the thing that has the most accuracy, the most delicacy, is probably going to be one of your claws, Leah."

She stumbled slightly in her lope, but quickly made up for it.

_You can't be serious. No. No. I'd end up hurting Elisabeth or Sebastian. No. There's got to be another way._

"You can practice. We'll help you. There will be plenty of time. Would you really rather we ask Jacob?"

_Oh, hell no! That idiot's__ not getting anywhere near Bella, pregnant._

Now wasn't the time to go into just who we suspected was going to become imprinted on Elisabeth sooner than later. We'd break that to both Jacob and Leah soon, but later.

_God, this is so weird. How did my life get so fucking weird?_ Leah mused.

"So, can we take that as a yes, then?"

_Practice. Lots of practice. More practice than you ever imagined. Practice till you roll your eyes at me. Deal?_

"Lots of practice, deal," I said.

"Thank you, Leah," Bella added.

_Midwife to my future husband. So fucking weird__._

Weird was relative, I mused. Everything could end up being weird and scary and non-starting if you let it. And then you become a hermit and never leave the house. Then again, you could think of life like a river filled with all sorts of interesting goings on. Good things, bad things, it was all relative and it was all in the flow. And so were we, I thought.

*

**End Note:** So. What did you think? Edward's the only one around here who knows automatically - for the rest of us, me included, you need to click those green words below...


	38. The Flow, part two: She Bangs

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

**Book Three**: The Adventure Continues  
**Chapter 1**: The Flow, part two: She Bangs  
**Beta:** Colleen P, bless her heart. She has a constitution of iron; she's still with me. I think I might have just made it easier on her, though, with the recent addition of the Mad Hatter to my pantheon of muses. ;) Twas the squee heard 'round the world...  
**Author's Note:** I wrote most of this over Thanksgiving. This Thanksgiving, I'm really very grateful for the thought of many things, but most particularly, Edward in Leather Pants. Yes, indeed. But you know, I wrote the rest of it in February. :)

* * *

It was Alice's fault, really. She makes suggestions and we're so used to those suggestions being based on the best possible predicted outcomes that we've gotten somewhat complacent. For reasons beyond me, we consistently ignore the fact that when Leah is around, Alice's suggestions are just that: _suggestions_, and not for instance recommendations on the best possible course of action.

Still. It wasn't an idea wholly without merit.

"We have time. We should really go to Rio. The nightclubs are really so much better, there," Alice had said.

After all, we could all use a time to blow off some steam. All of us - Carlisle and Esme, Alice and Jasper, Leah, Bella, and myself - we'd all found our time spent with Nahuel somewhat... _trying_.

I looked over at Bella with one brow raised. She did mention that she wanted to go to a nightclub. She was even legal to drink, here. While it wouldn't be the previously promised conjugal week in a hotel room in Manaus, we would undoubtedly have a good time, cross something off of Bella's informal bucket list, spend time with the family, and we were sure to have plenty of time to ourselves regardless. Bella would insist on the latter, and I would do no less.

Bella only shrugged at Alice's suggestion, seemingly to be nonchalant to our assembled party. I would have believed her if I wasn't firmly wrapped in her mind.

_Dude, that would be __**so**__ perfect. It's a shame shopping will have to be involved. I can't see Alice letting me go near a nightclub in hiking boots.__ Not that I'd want to. Even I know better than that. I wonder if sex will be different when I'm a little drunk. Not that I want to get fall-down drunk or anything. I sure don't want to throw up, or drink so much I hurt myself, or have a hang over the next morning. Matter of fact, I haven't heard a single positive thing about hang overs. I'd like to avoid that, if at all possible._

The four hour flight went quickly with all seven of us taking up nearly the entire First Class section of the plane. While our flight to Brazil had been characterized by quiet and serious conversations, our flight across Brazil was quite the opposite. With the exception of Jasper who did not breathe, and thus did not speak throughout the flight, we were a chatty - nearly boisterous - bunch. Had Emmett been in attendance we would have been, without a doubt. It was settled before we even landed - the women of our party were going to go shopping for all of us, the expedition headed by Alice and Leah, and the men would be checking into the hotel and investigating the night-life options. Alice had promised to do everything in three hours, but Bella stretched it to four, noting that she and Leah would need to eat at some point.

"Lots of protein and carbohydrates, please," I whispered into her ear, a not-entirely-vague reference to Bella's need to keep her energy up. She blushed prettily and the family laughed.

"Protein and carbs," Leah said wistfully. "My very favorite. _God,_ I love steak."

"I don't know," Alice chimed in. "The monkey was pretty good. Best _I've_ ever had."

"Better than venison," Carlisle chimed in, his tone wry.

"Anything's better than venison," I pointed out, my tone even drier.

"Squirrel?" my love chimed in.

"Oh, that's disgusting," Esme commented in a surprised tone. She shouldn't be surprised. Didn't everyone in the family realize by now that Bella had a strange preoccupation with squirrels?

"Squirrels are only good for one thing," Alice said in a matter-of-fact tone. I could see Jasper's shoulders shaking from the laughter he kept inside.

"Don't ask," I said to Bella as the question swirled in her mind and on the tip of her tongue. "I'll tell you later."

"Well, will someone tell me now?" Leah responded, somewhat put out, but still in high spirits.

Carlisle, who was sitting in the seat directly behind Leah's, motioned her toward him even as he leaned forward in his seat. She'd seen his gesture, as she'd been sitting almost completely facing the back of her seat, as was Alice in front of Bella, sitting as we were across the aisle.

He whispered so that Bella would not hear, but of course, the rest of us could. "In the beginning of Edward and Bella's courtship, Alice took it upon herself to instigate what has been known since as _Condom Testing Night_, in order to make sure that Edward and Bella could have safe sex." Leah's eyes were wide, her expression unreadable. "Apparently... there was some animal testing as well, to make sure that the various fluids we produce would be inert when in contact with Bella's skin. I'm told no harm came to the squirrel. For reasons that are perhaps obvious to you, Esme and I were told about all of this after the fact."

Leah buried her face in her hands as she tried very hard to laugh with dignity. She failed. At least the flight attendants found us amusing and not annoying by this point in the flight.

Bella glared at me. _Edward, I insist you tell me right this instant._

I licked my lips and wondered how exactly to phrase it.

I was fully aware that I had the undivided attention of the rest of our traveling party, in addition to the businesswoman who was seated next to Leah. Also, the flight attendant assigned to our cabin was keeping one ear open. That comprised the entirety of First Class.

I took a deep breath of the recycled air in the airplane, but it didn't help either. I really had no idea if Bella would find this as humorous as the rest of us did, or if she would be utterly mortified. Either option was entirely plausible.

"Do you remember the second evening we went for a walk? You guessed the $64,000 question?" I asked this even as I realized that Bella had probably never seen that show. Thankfully she understood the reference.

_Yeees, among other things. _ Bella was busy remembering having her hand down my pants, and inadvertently making me beg. It was a favorite memory of hers, even after all these months.

I cleared my throat and Bella grinned slightly at my discomfiture. Certainly she didn't see it often, at least, not when a crisis wasn't also involved. "Well," I started again. "You know that I wasn't sure until the next day... what we could do, exactly and... how we would do it."

"Could you be any more vague?" Bella quipped.

I narrowed my eyes at her and drug her into my lap. After the initial tension in her muscles dissipated, she melted into me as I cradled her, burying my nose in her hair to get close to her ear. We wouldn't have complete privacy, but at least anyone who could hear me wouldn't be shocked by what I wanted to say.

"Oh, I _am_ sorry," I said in my lowest register, my breath chasing across the shell of her ear. "Allow me to be explicit. Do you recall that I was uncertain as to whether or not you should even touch my ejaculate, much less swallow it?"

Bella's heart rate soared. She nodded and then shivered.

"Well, Alice anticipated us. Excepting Carlisle and Esme, that night was a time to test how condoms would react to vampires having sex. They were very, very thorough. I won't give you a play-by-play, but if you're interested, Emmett would be happy to do so. A squirrel was also involved."

Bella sat back, a look of horror written across her face. The rest of the family was trying to subdue their own laughter at this point. "What does a squirrel have to do with it?" she breathed out, still horrified.

"Homo sapiens," Alice chimed out. "We had to have a Bella stand-in."

Bella looked from Alice, to me, back to Alice, and then back to me again. "I'm the squirrel?" she asked in a very small voice. She had images of squirrels being too small in the hierarchy of woodland creatures for me to even notice while running, and now, images of them being used as laboratory test animals instead of rats.

I framed her face with my hands and called her name until she would meet my gaze. "Bella, you are my wife. You are not the squirrel."

_But I'm sort of the squirrel. _She looked on the verge of tears.

"You are infinitely more precious than the whole pantheon of woodland creatures put together, from the squirrel to the mountain lion." I nudged her lips with mine, but she wasn't having it.

"Even bears?" she asked, her voice tiny.

"Even bears," I said, even though I thought bears were covered in my original statement - obviously the mountain lion was far beyond a bear, but I decided not the belabor the point. I tried to kiss her again, but again she wanted nothing more than a brush of lips.

"Do you remember that night, when you called me after dinner? You were laughing at me. Do you remember why?" I decided that some humor at my expense might brighten this situation.

Bella silently shook her head and again the family was quite interested. They'd been absent or preoccupied for most of this conversation.

"It was the first time Alice had left notes on my clothes to tell me how to wear them."

Bella cracked a smile before she responded. "Right. I remember now."

"Do you remember what you said?" I asked.

Bella shook her head.

"You were amazed and slightly appalled that my sister would choose the clothes I would wear for my date. But even as you said it, Condom Testing Night was going on all around me. And even at the time... Even at the time I was amazed and grateful at the lengths to which my family - our family - would go to ensure the success of our relationship. Plucking just enough buttons off the bottom of my shirt and instructing me to leave it untucked all the way to testing condoms for us. They did it because they love me, and they were willing to love you."

Okay, so it wasn't as funny as I thought it was going to be, but it did end up with Bella smiling and snuggling into my neck.

_Thank you, baby._

The conversation around us continued, but Bella and I just held each other in silence for quite a while after that.

***

Bella was stunning. Her hair hung across her back and over her shoulders in dark and shiny ringlets, draping over a dark blue blouse that clung to her curves. Her black skirt wasn't short enough to be a mini skirt but neither was it any sort of regulation length, unless we were discussing field hockey. I didn't know what the style was called, but it was fitted across her belly and hips, but then flared along its short length until abruptly stopping mid-thigh. The black leather boots started just below her knees and had a very modest two inch heel that was the entire width of the boot - no stilettos for my rather clumsy love. I watched as she got dressed and I have to admit that I was equally as fond of her undergarments as I was the layer that everyone else could see. I would never have thought it would be an outfit she'd consent to wearing, though.

"Did you choose this outfit?"

Bella gave me a look that indicated I'd clearly lost my mind. Her response was preceded by a snort of disbelief. "No, of course not. Though I really like the top. The skirt's a little... um... short. Don't you think? I mean, a little short?"

I shook my head in disagreement.

Bella rolled her eyes at me. _Well, you __**would**__ say that. _"But I feel okay in the boots. I mean, I don't feel like I'm going to break an ankle or something like that. At least, I don't think so." She turned so she could see herself in the full length mirror on the wall of the bedroom portion of our suite. _The skirt is definitely too short. Especially in the back._

I discarded the towel that was around my waist and reached for the black leather pants that Alice had procured for me.

_Oh, oh, oh shit. You're going commando?_

I looked up and caught my wife staring at my reflection the mirror as I dressed behind her. I gave her a wicked grin as I put the pants on slowly. I pulled them up and reached into the front to adjust myself adequately before zipping the fly partially.

"Breathe, Bella," I ordered, and she started breathing again on a gasp.

I pulled on the crisp dark grey Oxford and tucked in the bottom before finishing with the zipper and button of the fly. I reached behind myself for the belt with the large silver buckle that was laying on the bed waiting for me, but Bella turned around and took it from my fingers no sooner than I'd picked it up.

_Let me._

"Breathe and I will," I said.

She started threading the belt in the wrong direction, so I silently redirected her. As she slowly put the belt through loop after loop she licked along my exposed collar bone. A shiver ran up my spine but I stood still until she was done with my belt. I started buttoning my shirt from the bottom up, but when I still had five buttons to go, Bella informed me that I could stop right there.

I didn't argue with her. Instead I cuffed the shirt-sleeves until they were just below my elbow.

_I love your forearms__._

I gave her a look.

_Okay, there's no part of you that isn't stunning. Your elbows are great. Your butt is amazing. Heck, even the back of your knees are cute._

I suddenly had a vision of Bella giving _me_ massages, once we were on more equal footing in our strength. I shivered again.

_What are you thinking of in that hyperactive mind of yours?_

"You," I said simply.

Bella was saved from her response by a knock on the door. She went to answer it as I looked in the mirror, briefly wondered if there was anything I could do to my hair to make it more manageable or even slightly more fashionable, then gave up on it as the lost cause it had been for more than century.

Bella was followed back into the suite by Leah who looked lovely in a short dark brown dress and brown leather boots that reached up beyond her knee to her lower thigh. She wore the same sort of heel that Bella did, only on Leah that ended up making her an inch taller than me.

"You look nice, Leah. And for a wolf, you smell okay tonight," I said.

"Yeah, well. You still smell like rancid honey. It ain't pretty, but I'll deal," she replied.

"Honey doesn't spoil, Leah. Ever," I said. They'd found some in a 3,000 year old tomb in Egypt and it was still good.

"Yeah. And yet, here's the smell," she said. "Still, you look good. Here's to hoping that's a gene that caries through the generations."

I chuckled at her and her remarks and pulled her into a one armed hug, even as I held Bella close beside me on my other side.

_People are going to think we're some kinky threesome or something, tonight,_ Bella thought, winding her hands around my neck even as Leah clasped me loosely around my waist.

I threw back my head and crowed out my laughter, but quickly leaned down to kiss her. It was true, I loved Leah, but as kinky as Bella and I could get, I was completely unwilling to share myself or her with anyone else in that manner.

Bella pressed herself tighter to me and it seemed like such a natural thing to slip my leg between hers. Her short skirt rode up slightly and I could smell her ever more clearly now, her scent finally stronger than Leah's. My right hand drifted down to palm her perfect rear as our tongues twisted and twined, one around the other. I could feel one of her hands clutching at my chest and the other gripping my hair as we kissed.

I did register that Leah was talking all this time, but I have to admit I wasn't paying it the strictest attention. Something about my arm around her waist. Come to think of it, Leah's arms were still around my waist. Funny, I hadn't noticed.

"Hellooo! Still here!" Leah called out directly in my ear. "You two gotta stop that shit. Or at least don't pull that shit in public when you're still holding on to me. People are going to think we're some sort threesome couple. Can a threesome be a couple? Wouldn't it be a triple?"

Bella surfaced just in time to hear the last part of Leah's amusing diatribe. She licked her lips while she looked at me and it was all I could to to restrain myself from leaning down and starting all over again. Bella looked positively _delicious_ tonight. Already I couldn't wait to get her alone. Still, Bella giggled at Leah's commentary.

I found it quite interesting how Leah changed her tune once she got slightly drunk. The problem, actually, was keeping Leah drunk. Keeping Bella drunk was not an issue. After her third drink we cut her off and she followed it up with four pints of water by the end of the night. Leah, on the other hand, metabolized the alcohol quite quickly, and refused to drink any water until Carlisle reinforced my opinion.

Bella and I had danced a few times by ourselves, but the more Bella had to drink, the more interesting the evening got.

It was just before the tequila body shots (I may smell bad to werewolves, but apparently I _taste_ just fine, which makes sense in a rather dark and disturbing way) that Leah, while dancing with Bella and I, threw her arms around my neck and planted a sloppy kiss on the side of my face.

"I _love_ you," she declared loudly. "I love him," she said, looking over at Bella.

"Yeah, me too," Bella agreed with a grin.

When we danced together, we seemed to gravitate toward the same formation each time - Bella in front of me and slightly to my right, and Leah the same on my left. Sometimes we were closer and other times we were farther away, but just at present we were all quite cozy, which is to say that Bella was almost straddling my right leg, and Leah was cleaved to my left side. My arms were around both of them as we still moved to the music.

Still, I wondered what brought on the sudden bout of adoration from my daughter-in-law. Was it simply the copious amounts of alcohol? I didn't have to wonder for long.

"You're so great!" She was shouting, but then again, it was very, very loud in here. "You're not an asshole!"

Two guys near us looked over and smirked at me, assuming the obvious and clearly conversant in English. So many people were, in Rio. I quirked an eyebrow at them and returned my attention to my favorite wolf.

She gave me another large kiss on the cheek, then addressed Bella. "I can dance with him, and it's cool," she said, still speaking with necessary loudness. As she leaned over and across me slightly, she steadied herself by all but hanging off of me. "I mean, I'm safe, you know? I can dance and have fun and he's not going to take it the wrong way, he's not going to fuck me over and break my heart!"

Bella smiled softly and nodded sagely. "Yeah!" she yelled. "That's 'cause he's taken!" _You're taken, aren't you, baby? _she asked me, grinning up at me in an entirely silly and drunk fashion.

"Yes, that's true," I said, speaking loud enough to be heard and looking down at my love. We three continued the rhythmic writhing that passed for dancing these days as I leaned down to kiss Bella. She tasted of the alcohol she'd been drinking over the past hour, but that didn't daunt me in the least. Mid-way through the kiss I realized it wasn't Bella's hands at the back of my neck - both of hers were in my hair. It was a somewhat jarring realization to have someone else petting me as I fantasized about my odds of getting caught if Bella and I tried in fact, to have full intercourse on the dance floor. I pulled back slowly, licking Bella's lips as she pouted up at me. In consolation I let my right hand drift down to cup her rear and press her even more tightly against me. She shimmied with me and against me as I turned to Leah and leaned slightly. I kissed the tip of her nose and she pressed her forehead against mine directly afterwards.

"Eight years," I promised loudly. I caressed her back lightly, innocently, as she swayed against me. "He'll adore you even more than we do."

I watched as Leah's eyes welled up. She wrapped her arms tighter around my midsection and buried her face briefly in my shoulder. Still, it wasn't long at all until she threw her head back with a laugh and freed one of her hands to wipe carefully at her eyes.

"Eight years," she yelled back.

After the tequila body shots I persuaded Bella to sit out and I plied her with water, acceptable to her on the condition that she could sit on my lap all the while. When Leah announced that she still wanted to dance, Carlisle and Jasper simultaneously offered their hands. Instead of choosing, she took both of them.

We watched the Leah sandwich form, and we all laughed to see both Jasper and Carlisle acting in such a carefree manner. Leah had backed herself into Carlisle, and pulled Jasper to her. The former was game and the latter happy - he discovered quite quickly that if he leaned into Leah and breathed deeply from somewhere around the area below her ear that he could actually breathe - and thus talk - in the nightclub. He'd been holding his breath all this time, under the assumption that it would just make life easier, if not significantly more silent for his part.

The rest of the evening we alternated between between dancing and drinking - though after the body shots we cut Bella off from alcohol - until Bella and Leah stumbled and the rest of us walked calmly out of the club a half hour before it closed. It was a lovely and temperate night and we were all for walking back to the hotel. Five minutes into walking I was carrying Bella, whose feet hurt, and we were all trying to keep Leah from tearing off her boots and dress and transforming. She kept complaining that she wanted to run. Eventually Carlisle suggested they run as is, and though she had to concede to run slowly enough so as not to draw suspicion, even while drunk Leah understood it was her best offer.

It was a good night, a diverting success on all accounts save one - Bella fell asleep on the way back to the hotel and didn't wake up until the morning. We would have to try drunk sex another night.

*

_Eat, sleep, have sex._

I laughed at my disheveled love. I had woken her this morning after she'd slept soundly for ten hours, and I'd woken her the way I hadn't been able to yesterday morning when Nahuel had decided to channel Spiderman, dangling upside down in the tree above us. And now, having crawled up her body, trailing kisses as I went, I asked her what she wanted to do, now that we were here in Rio de Janeiro...

"Are you certain you don't want to go to a beach with Leah, or go to a museum? Try the different varieties of Brazilian cuisine?"

Bella snorted at me. "No. But I kind of want to call Charlie. I mean, I called him on Christmas, but I know he's worrying about us, and about what we might have found down here, and I just... I want to call him."

I rubbed my thumb across her bare shoulder as I propped myself up on my elbow next to her. "Of course. And you don't even need a reason, Bella. You can simply call him. But he would be awake now. Forks is four hours behind us." I rolled slightly to snatch Bella's cell phone from where it had been charging on the night stand. I handed it to her.

I listened as Bella did the mental calculations to decide what time it was in Forks and where she could best reach her father at this hour. She called him at the office, and he was in.

"_Are you okay?"_ was his greeting once he picked up the line after dispatch had transferred Bella's call.

I watched as Bella roll her eyes. Just wait, I thought wryly, until you become a mother. I refrained from saying anything just then, however.

"I'm fine, Dad. Edward's fine. We're all fine. We're all hanging out in Rio now. I called because I wanted to tell you that even though we were only briefly in the Amazon, our... uh... _meeting_ went well. It was successful and we learned what we needed to know. I'll give you details if you want them when we get back, but I just didn't want you to worry."

I could hear Charlie sigh, and then begin to breathe deeply over the phone. _"I'm glad to hear that, Bells. So. Rio. What're you going to do there?"_

"Oh, you know. I'll probably go to the beach with Leah, a few museums with Edward, maybe try out all the local food, go see that big statue. You know, touristy stuff." Bella was lying with greater and greater ease. I was sort of proud, though I felt as if I perhaps shouldn't be.

"_Uh, Bella," _I heard him start uncertainly. _"I know we uh... we already, I mean you and your mom, you already talked about... you know... being safe... you know, with Edward. But I just want to make sure. He doesn't... he doesn't ask you to do things you don't want to do, does he?" _Charlie was speaking quietly, as if he didn't want to be overheard on his end. I can imagine that he wouldn't want that. I could also imagine that as well as Bella was learning to lie, it still wasn't good enough to fool her father. _"I mean, he is as he is, and you are... as you are."_

Bella took a deep breath. "I know what you're asking, Dad. And I appreciate that you are concerned. The good news is that Edward has never asked me, or forced me to do anything that I don't want to do. He has never overpowered me, or physically hurt me. He _is _much stronger and faster than I am, but he has amazing control. And we talk about stuff. I mean, if we have an issue or something, we talk about it. I'm not saying he's perfect. He's got his issues, but abusing the power he has in our relationship isn't one of them. He's a good man, Dad. He really is."

I heard Charlie exhale deeply again. _"I know he is, but I'd be failing as a father if, knowing what I know, I didn't ask, if I didn't give you an opportunity to say something that you maybe needed to say. You know you can talk to me, Bells. I mean, I know we don't always... but, I'm always willing to listen. You know that, right?"_

I watched as Bella's eyes filled up with tears that might or might not actually fall. "I know, Dad."

There was silence for a very long moment.

"_Well. Okay. Have a great time in Brazil, Bells. Come home safe. Tell Edward it's his hide if you don't."_

Bella smiled a little as she silently laughed just once, rolling her eyes as she did so. "He knows, I will, don't worry, we'll be home in a few days. Bye, Dad."

Charlie hung up then, and Bella twisted around to reach the nightstand, where she replaced the phone. When she twisted back, her face did not scream _make love to me now._ She curled up, partially around and partially entwined with my body, and I responded accordingly, wrapping my arms around her and burying my nose in her beautifully fragrant hair.

"We're still going to do this, right?" she asked, her voice muffled against my chest and the covers that she had pulled over us as she made herself comfortable. Though her mind had no isolated words, there were pictures, images full of meaning - imaginary infants, Bella pregnant, me hunting and bringing her a deer, still alive. The infants didn't resemble our children, I doubted Bella would be walking around as she was in her image and I didn't really think I'd bring her a deer - something smaller, if I brought her an animal at all, and not a cup of freshly exanguinated nourishment. Esme had designed an outdoor, yet sheltered station for Emmett and I to butcher and prepare the venison that I brought Charlie every two weeks, and in all likelihood it would be that station, with some modification that Esme was undoubtedly already planning, where we would drain the blood.

That was going to be interesting. I would have to hunt and not kill - or at least, not eat. It would have to be either Carlisle or myself to do this, as we were the only ones with enough control... and as much as I loved and respected Carlisle, this was something that I'd be damned if anyone did but me. I _wanted_ to be able to provide this for Bella - everything she needed, anything she needed. I would.

Twins. I was going to be a father to twins.

I kissed Bella's head. "Yes. I'm willing, if you still want to do it."

She looked up at me, then, her brow furrowed. "Willing? You mean... you don't..." _You don't really want it?_

I stopped her before she could go any further with that thought. I shifted so that I was farther down on our pillows, so I could look her straight in the eye with no one looking up or down. "Bella," I said softly, holding her gaze. "I want this. I _want_ it. _I want all of it._ But, and let me be very clear about this, very, very clear: I do not want to push you into something you do not want, something about which you have grave reservations. It would break something inside of me, Bella, to entice you into something of this magnitude against your will. It would break me, Bella, to do this and later find out that you only went along with it because I wanted it. I am selfish. I admit it. But I cannot be that selfish. So yes, I am _willing_, if you still want to do it."

_I want it. _"I want it." She kissed my lips softly, gently, then pulled back slightly. "I don't... I'm not sure how to be a good mother."

I have books on that, I thought.

"But I know that we can raise our son and daughter in the most loving environment..." She trailed off and I searched my mind for the right thing to say. I didn't want to dismiss her fears outright. They were valid, after all.

"You once wondered what it would be like to have two loving parents, present and accounted for all the time." I was going to say more, but at her confused look, I paused.

_When did I say that?_

I grinned. "You thought it, the day we met. You were sitting with Jessica, and I was across the room wondering why in hell you were so interesting to me." Bella smiled at that. "I had not yet admitted to myself that I would have given anything to be included in your life. That happened during Spanish with Emmett, while you were blissfully sitting out of gym, wondering what to make for dinner, if I wanted to date you, and if you were, in fact, dreaming." Bella smiled wider and snuggled closer to me, her nose finding my neck and her left hand smoothing the skin along my side, from mid thigh, over my hip, my ribs, and then around to my shoulder blade and back again.

_That was a good day. I had breakfast for dinner__, decent classes, no gym and my first date ever, and with the most beautiful perpetual seventeen year old in the known Universe, to whom I am now married._

I smiled, shivering at her hot breath on my neck and her hand on my body. "Don't forget that I will, sometime in the near future, be the father of your children."

Bella pulled back so she could see my eyes, all the while her mind was chanting, _yes, yes, yes. _"Yes. You will be." And then she opened a door in her mind that, true to form, I had no idea was even there, and out flooded all of her hopes and dreams for a stable, loving family. Some of it was realistic, some of it wasn't, but I was humbled and grateful that she shared any of it with me, to say nothing of all of it. We were silent as the images washed over both of us. She wasn't Alice. This wasn't what the future would look like, of course, but it was even better than that. Sometimes knowing the future, even subjectively, is something of a curse. But knowing Bella's deepest hopes was a precious gift, the magnitude of which could not be counted on a scale.

Bella and I did not leave the hotel room until our bags were packed and the cars ready. She ate, she slept, and we made love. It was an interesting place I was in, mentally, when we went through security. I did my best not to interact with anyone - the last thing I ate was the monkey I now regretted, and that wasn't even a proper amount. It had been just to take the edge off. Though I didn't feel the thirst, I was hungry and if I had bothered to leave Bella's head, I might have felt it. As it was, my temper was... short. And yet with the surfeit of sex I had received, that temper was somewhat mitigated, so long as I had my arm around her waist and wasn't required to interact with anyone else, up to and including my beloved father, who had his annoying days.

However, Brazilian airport security was feeling antagonistic and for reasons I'd rather not examine too closely, they picked on me.

_Calm down, baby, _I heard Bella think as I was led off into a private room for a full body search. _Don't kill anyone. Be sweet. I know you haven't eaten, I know you're hungry and it's all my fault. You should have eaten. I ate. You should have eaten. But be sweet, for me. Turn on the charm. Pretend it's me. Pretend you want something. Soften that scowl I know you have. You're giving off seriously pissy vibes. And since you're... you know... __**you**__, pissy vibes can feel pretty dangerous__. Calm down, baby. Think of how much I love you. I love you so much, Edward. Think of the twins. Think of how amazing it's going to be to watch them grow and learn and see the world._

She continued, sweetly cajoling me to lighten my disposition, and it worked. I slipped out of her head just enough so that I could hear the thoughts of the officer who had just requested in barely politely Brazilian Portuguese for me disrobe, save my underwear, and place my clothes on the table. It turns out that the officer wasn't quite... well, he wasn't quite the asshole I was making him out to be in my head. I did as he asked, making polite conversation as I went.

"I apologize if I was terse before," I said, not flawlessly, but at least with proper grammar and diction. "I am recently married, and my wife and I, and our family, we were enjoying your country very much. We are very disappointed to have to leave. It is cold and rainy at home, and though it is beautiful in its own way, it is nothing to compare with this place."

My guard swelled with the pride of his country as he searched my clothing on the table. He asked for my two rings - the signet and the wedding ring - and checked them for anything unusual. I removed my cuff for him next, which he also examined. The chain was not tucked into my boxer briefs, and he asked for that to be removed.

"I don't have the key. My wife does."

He raised an eyebrow. This he did not like. This was suspect.

I smiled my most charming smile. "Please feel free to examine it, or of course you can call my wife in. She caries the key with her."

I obligingly held my arms out as he did make a close examination of the chain, and the lock. He asked what it said. I translated. He snorted and told me to get dressed.

My family waited for me outside, and though everyone but Bella had a placid facade, I knew they were concerned about what they might have to do, should they need to intervene. I smiled at them in an attempt to silently allay their fears even as I wrapped my arms around Bella. The moment the guard had told me to get dressed once again, I'd left his mind and slipped fully back into Bella's.

"You need to eat," she said, her words muffled by my clothes, but clear enough to all of us. "No more Mr. Grumpy-Pants."

Our family laughed as we made our way to the gate, First Class having just been called to board our flight. We were going home, and I have to admit o some curiosity. What had Rosalie and Emmett gotten up to in our absence?

* * *

_**End Note: **_Right, so I've decided that this was really part of the chapter before. And the next chapter will, I think, be from Rosalie's point of view. I'm going to guess that chapters are going to come out at about one a month. If you're curious, you can of course follow me on Twitter: sareliz. Also, fun & games are going on at my blog. I've posted Book One of DESS in pdf form, both with and without snarky side commentary. It is available for your downloading pleasure here: sareliz. com/writing/fandom-writing/

...oh, and... you know I love reading your reviews... wanna leave one for me to squee over?


	39. Waiting for Godot

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, RPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

**Book Three**: The Adventure Continues  
**Chapter 2**: Waiting for Godot  
**Beta:** Colleen P, who thinks that Rosalie might benefit from some therapy. I agree.  
**Author's Note: **Hello, there. This was a particularly difficult chapter to write, partially because of my own real life transitiony stuff that I've got going on, but partially because I feel like there's a transition in the story that I only have the slightest of grips on. We'll see.

***

I have spent several lifetimes waiting. It sometimes feels as if I've spent them all waiting for things that never, in fact, occur, though Emmett would try to spin that another way. Perhaps he is right. Perhaps he isn't. Nevertheless, just at the moment I am beginning to doubt that my current fears have any basis.

I spent the first two decades of my life waiting, you see, and really, they were the only decades of my life that I had as _life, _life as one truly alive. I waited for independence, I waited to make an impact, an imprint on this world, I waited for family, I waited for the only sort of love I thought I had within me to express. I waited for marriage as a vehicle for what I really desired, what I really wanted, what I _truly_ waited for: a child. I waited, and I waited, and it seemed that whole eternities passed in two short decades as I waited for a child. I waited with full expectation for that which never came to pass; I have never to this day had a child of my own. My disappointment knew no boundary. It filled me so completely that I knew myself anew, and as I was reborn into crystalline hardness I was reborn into the profound agony of Sisyphus, of Prometheus, of Atlas, and the measure of my strength became the measure of my agony.

I have sometimes considered that my agony has only been prolonged by Emmett's presence in my life, for if he were not here, neither at this point would I be here and my agony therefore would be finally erased. It is also true that Emmett has long been the only thing, the single and solitary thing that has made my existence worthwhile. As good as I know Carlisle to be, and my family, and the good that we have chanced or managed to do, and even to some extent Edward, as pleasant as they all can be, they are as nothing at all. They are the birds chirping on the mountain Sisyphus climbs daily, they are the rocks that provide Prometheus his bed, they are the grass that cushions the feet of Atlas; neutral, or pleasant perhaps, but minor characters at best.

Continuing on, however, I spent the first decade of this unlife waiting to die, confused as to how it could be that such a hope could ever go unrealized. As with before, I waited with full expectation for that which never came to pass; here I am, nearly one hundred years old, and neither alive nor dead, but certainly still existing.

Emmett changed everything; Emmett changed nothing.

I spent the next decade waiting to be condemned. I had never dreamed I could love like I loved Emmett, nor had I ever imagined in my most wild imaginings that I could _be_ loved as Emmett loved me. I spent a tense and intense decade adoring him every way I knew how, and I learned new ways, and I spent that same tense and intense time waiting to be found guilty, for I _was_ guilty. I was guilty of sacrificing the love I ought to have given to a child, and changing it, shaping it into something very different that I would share with Emmett instead. And yet again, I waited with full expectation for that which never came to pass; never have I received such condemnation.

I spent the next fifty years waiting in agony for many things great and small. I have been waiting to find a cover story that seems palatable. I have waited to find a food source that satisfies. I have waited to find an agreeable way to deal with the annoyance that is Edward Anthony Masen. And now I wait for a war with the Volturi, a war that has no hope of being won, and I wonder if I wait in vain.

Perhaps I do. I have lived enough, seen enough of life to realize that no matter the reason or cause there is no such thing as a war won. The tolls of war are far too high to ever have a clear winner. When people sacrifice, when people die, how can they have won? Even if the war with the Volturi were winnable, but at the expense of, say, Alice, or Esme, or even Edward, how could we emerge from the other side sane? How could we, as a family, as the Cullen Family, how could we continue on and not know ourselves to be infinitely less? How could it not feel as if we had lost our dominant hand? How could it not feel as if we had lost an eye, or an ear? How could we count ourselves as victorious, no matter our win, if one of our own were lost, if an unconcerned innocent strayed into our battle, or if - God help us - one of the wolves were counted amongst the fallen? How, indeed.

I do not truly want war, though I realize that a conflict may yet arrive on our own doorstep. I do not wish to learn how best to dismember my enemy before my enemy disables me. I do not wish to analyze whether or not a flamethrower would be an efficient weapon against us. I do not wish to train the wolves so that they know our strengths and weaknesses. I only want to be safe. I only want to love and be loved. But if a conflict arrives on our doorstep, it must be resolved and the only option I know of aside from violence is diplomacy, and I know I am no good at diplomacy.

I have spent lifetimes waiting in vain for that which never, in the end, comes to pass. It has been a misery to live this way and truly I know no other way, but for the first time I find myself hoping that I wait in vain.

*

I called in Eleazar. He and Carmen arrived only just after the rest of the family left for destinations south. I was necessarily enigmatic on the phone, but he took it in stride and when he arrived I laid out the situation as best I could to him. It was a source of great debate between Emmett and myself as to whether or not to include Jacob and Sam. Emmett was all for it, arguing that it was a matter that would affect the wolves and that these were decisions that we shouldn't even be discussing in a vacuum without them. I argued that they were far too immature to be of any help whatsoever, and more likely than not to blow things out of proportion. Emmett gave me a look that made it clear that we were able to blow things out of proportion without their aid. I gave in, but we both agreed that we could at least tell Carmen and Eleazar about the wolves before they arrived.

Of course, they smelled them far before then. We'd almost grown accustomed to the very strong scent of the shifters, what with Leah now our sister, and Jacob having his own room as well, to say nothing of the fact that a day was dull unless someone furry showed up in the kitchen or garage, hungry and talkative.

Wolves. All they do is eat, talk, and run.

*

Hospitality came first. I'd called Jacob to let him know that we would be having our distant cousins as guests and that I wanted him to meet them after school. We arranged that he could break the rules and study later in the evening, but that it should just be him and Sam, at least tonight. That gave Emmett and I plenty of time to go hunting with our guests and fill them in on the existence of shapeshifters, the current political climate between the Quileute and the Cullens, Edward's new mate, our newest little sister, Edward and Bella's expected progeny, and South American quest to find a similar creature. All told it took twelve minutes to explain, speaking quickly as we can with our own kind.

"We leave you alone for a year and this is what you come up with? You certainly have not been bored, have you, mi nina?" Carmen asked, laughing as we ran back to the house. "And when do we get to see these beloved wolves of yours?"

"The Alpha and his second will be over in an hour or so."

"We have plenty of time, then," Eleazar commented. "Do I take it to understand that you have not yet consulted your sire concerning your fears?"

I thought of a number of witty comments to retort, but decided to play nice. "No," I said quite simply.

"What, to your understanding, are the main concerns of this situation?"

"The wolves and the children. They're both outside of what is normal and I'm afraid that if the Volturi catch wind of either one of them, they'll slaughter first and ask questions later. They won't care about treaties or historic examples about how either one is completely normal under these circumstances. They won't care at all. They'll simply kill us all. That's my main concern."

We were at the house at this point and we gathered in the living room, observing the human tendency of sitting comfortably in the chairs.

Eleazar nodded. "And what is your inclination? What does your instinct tell you to do?"

"Hide. Hide, and learn to fight. Teach the wolves to better fight us - it's in their instinct anyway. Hide and tell no one. If it weren't for the wolves, I'd say run - raise the children somewhere else, somewhere we are utterly unknown, drop off the radar entirely. But we can't run. I won't leave the wolves, not like that, anyway. Leaving at this point only exposes them to greater danger if the Volturi come looking for us and find, instead, them."

I watched as Eleazar nodded and sat in quiet thought for a moment.

"It would seem as if a quiet preparation for war would be the right choice, but I think there are other options open to us - beyond being proactively warlike and beyond being reactive in any fashion. I think there are ways we can be proactive, and yet avoid war.

"You must understand the Volturi, Rosalie. Power is what they know. They see everything through the lens of it. They will not understand anything they encounter except through that lens. Power; acquiring it, wielding it, maintaining it. They will not care that you understand the world using a different paradigm. Not only will this not matter to them, they simply will not understand it. So saying, we must act with integrity, even while we placate the Volturi. However, if we are proactive, we can define the game, even if we have to use their rules. Do you understand?"

"I think so," I responded in utter truth. This was... not something I'd considered before. I almost wished that Bella and Carlisle were here. And possibly Charlie, truth be told. I'd heard he was quite good at this sort of thing. I suddenly felt in quite over my head. I told Eleazar so.

"Well," he said. "We will do what we can here, now, and when the rest of the family returns, we return to this subject. Certainly, these are contemplations that will be greatly aided by so many thoughtful minds. We shall plan a summit with the family, and the wolves, and the Chief of Police. Perhaps we should include the sisters as well - I think it would be wise, but I leave that to you and Carlisle to determine."

I nodded. I could see the wisdom of his suggestion, even as I felt quite acutely something else - some other, unnamable slice of resentment. I wanted to find the solution on my own. I wanted to present a plan that would be accepted and lauded by all parties. I wanted it. Me. But I was woman enough to know wisdom when I saw it laid bare before me.

And so we deepened the discussion. I led him to a copy of the second treaty that Carlisle had framed in his office. I explained Bella's unfathomable effect on Edward's gift, and how he had explained it. For effect I played part of the suite Edward had been composing for her. I shared with him the shape of the Quileute ritual I was a part of, though I left off the details - they were not mine to share outside of our immediate family. I told him all I knew about Alice's visions and the strange effect the wolves had on her abilities. Eleazar wondered how it was Alice could see the vision with the twins, with wolves present, but no one had that answer, though we had all considered it at one point or another. Something, clearly, would happen between now and then, something that was so predictable that it could not help but to occur...

And lastly, I told him of the wolves, of Jacob's first change. I did my best, which was not very well at all, to explain the depth of my attachment to the pack.

And then we heard them. Jacob howled the howl of no decent clothes to change into, which only led Emmett into a peal of laughter.

"Kids," he said, grinning, but then he was off, upstairs and then out the door.

Carmen and Eleazar looked at me in silent question. "That's wolf for, 'dude, I need some jeans.' It may be easy to forget when you see them, but Jacob is not yet old enough to drive, and Sam hasn't finished college. Yet."

"They are only children," Carmen said softly, and I could see the same sort of compassion from her that Emmett and I felt ourselves.

I was quick to nod agreement, but then we heard bellowed from the yard, "_**I heard that, you know! I'm not deaf! And I turn sixteen next month, so no more shit from you, Mom!"**_

If I could have blushed, I might have. It wasn't the yelling. It wasn't the swearing. It wasn't the smart-mouthing. He'd called me Mom. I was stunned, but I still listened to the banter outside.

"Ow, hey, Emmett, what the hell, man? Oh, ugh, Sam, help! Ugh! Dude, he kissed me! Ugh, vampire cooties! Ugh, did I piss you off in a former life, or something? Dude, what the hell, I'll get you for that, just hold the hell still, would you? Ugh. God, why do you have to be so fucking big, man? I... ugh... almost... Sam, come on, man, gimme a hand here, I've almost... oh, _shiiiit!"_

"If this is the ditch you want to die in, I'm more than happy to be your witness," I heard Sam remark laconically just before I heard Jacob's body hit the ground in another part of the yard.

"Wrestling later," I heard Emmett say. His voice was nonchalant, but I knew why he'd just kissed Jacob - because he'd called me _Mom._ "We have guests we would like to introduce to you, some of our northern cousins."

And then they were among us, clad only in their new, identical dark denim jeans; feet bare, chests bare, head just shy of shaved and as big as Emmett. We rose from the couches and I held my hand out. Jacob lead the way to me and slid his arm around my shoulder even as mine went around his waist. He gave me a tight sideways squeeze and dropped a kiss on the top of my head.

Elation warred with practicality, and lost. "You didn't bring your homework, did you?" I murmured.

"Aw, come on, Rosie."

"Two hours, and then you get your homework."

I'd like to say that the puppy eyes had no effect on me, but that would be a lie. "You and Sam can take my car to go get it. You _will_ do your homework, Jacob. And you, Sam, I know you have reading to do."

"Yes, ma'am," Sam replied.

I didn't wait for Jacob's response.

"Now, I want you to meet our guests." I turned to our cousins. "This is Jacob Black, the Alpha of the Quileute Pack and head of the Tribal Council. This is Sam Uley, Jacob's second-in-command." I turned to the wolves. "I would like you to meet our cousins from the north, Eleazar and Carmen. They both share our diet, as do our other northern cousins who you will no doubt meet sooner or later."

Hands were shaken and no one mentioned the smell, which as I recall is quite overpowering at first. It seemed only a minor nuisance to me now, a small price to pay.

"Let's take this to the kitchen," interjected Emmett. He'd already preheated the oven, and he took a tray of something noxious looking from the refrigerator, uncovered it and slid it into the heated cavern. "Ten minutes. Why don't you get yourself a Coke?" Well, Jake liked Coke, and Sam liked Orange Crush, but there were both and more stocked in the small refrigerator that was meant to hold wine but never did. They helped them selves. Bella only ever seemed to drink water and iced tea, so the soda was always for the boys.

I watched our cousins watch the wolves, who seemed to take the presence of strangers in stride, Jake more so than Sam, but even Sam, to a great degree. There was an awkward quality to the silence until Jake asked about the rest of the family.

Emmett shook his head and leaned back on the counter. "We haven't heard anything yet, beyond that everyone's arrived safely. The lovebirds are in Florida and the rest of the family is in Brazil. I doubt we'll hear much from them until after they do what they need to do." Emmett crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. I could tell he was keeping one eye on the oven.

"Aw, man. Leah gets all the fun," Jacob started, and I thought this was going to be the same whine we'd heard twice before and I raised an eyebrow, wondering if I was going to need to say something. And then he said something else that I did not expect. "She and Sam here are the only ones who've imprinted, you know. Well, sort of. I mean, Sam definitely has. And Leah kind of has. It's weird, really. I mean, they already know that she and... uh... well..." And this was where Jacob's common sense obviously began to kick in, and well it should. He had no idea that we'd already told Carmen and Eleazar this, or if we'd meant to keep it a secret. "Well, it's complicated," he explained, covering up his earlier moment of in articulation. "But only Leah, right?" He snickered, but no one else laughed, least of all Sam. I wondered if this would be a good time to tell him. Probably not, but I might anyway.

"Careful, there, friend," Emmett said, and I wondered if Jacob realized that his blitheness veiled something much more profound. People usually didn't.

"Oh, come on!" Jacob replied, still jovial. "When I imprint, it's going to be on a girl just like Rose. Or should I say... a _woman_," he added in a wry tone, and I could tell his comment had nothing to do with gender bias and everything to do with his fond hope that he would imprint on an adult rather than a child, and an unborn one at that.

Emmett grinned. "Just like Rosie, huh? Well, I hope you get your wish. In spades."

My raised eyebrow stayed raised, but I will admit to a small smile. Very small.

It was a brief moment of observational genius that fell upon the son of my heart when he looked around and saw that everyone but Sam seemed to have an enigmatic look.

"What have I just missed? Do you guys know who I'm going to imprint on, or something? I mean, did Alice have another vision? I thought that she couldn't always... see..."

It was quiet for a long moment and I glanced up at Em. The quick flick of his brow said to me, _what the hell, why not?_

"Yes," I said. "She did have a vision. A while ago. The future is a tricky thing, Jacob Emmanuel Black, and it's not always helpful to know about it before it comes to pass. Alice sees things that people do, decisions that people make, and _in that moment_ they do it - they can, they want to, they must, where as even a moment before they might have balked. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Jacob blinked and looked away. After the space of several heartbeats, he gave his quiet reply. "Sam would never in a million years chosen Emily, not if it were up to him, but he's really happy with her, and she's cool with it now, especially since Leah, well... yeah."

"Yes, we know who your mate will be. Yes, she will come along sooner or later. Yes, you will adore her - it is the way of your people. The question is, do you want to know right now who that is?"

"Do I know her?" he asked quietly.

"Not yet." Well, he knew of her. We all knew of the twins. But no one had actually met them, yet.

"When will I meet her?"

"Maybe a year. Maybe more. We're not sure."

He nodded. "I think I can wait. At least, for now." And then his demeanor changed entirely as his head whipped over to Emmett. "Wait, is she seriously going to be like Rosalie?"

"In ways you'll never expect," Emmett replied.

*

The phone rang, and when I looked to see who it was, I saw Edward's number on the display. He was still in Florida with Bella and I wondered what on earth would make him call, unless of course Bella was using his phone - but she had her own, so that was possible, but unlikely.

"Yes?" I answered.

"Are you able to talk?" said Edward. He was asking if anyone was within hearing distance.

"Emmett's upstairs reading, no one else is around," I said, which was true. Eleazar and Carmen were out hunting with Jacob, Sam, and Paul. Edward would know that Emmett could hear our conversation.

"That's fine. Hi, Emmett. I made an interesting realization yesterday. I've told Bella, and I'll bring it up with the rest when we arrive in Brazil, but I thought you should know as well. I think Leah is no longer part of Jacob's pack. It started when she joined us, but I didn't recognize the difference in her mind right away. I think she's perhaps the alpha of her own pack of one."

"Interesting," I said as I thought about what this might mean.

"Let me know how and what you'll decide to tell them, and if you find out anything interesting of how this might impact Leah."

"I will." I paused then and almost didn't continue. "How's Bella?"

"She's fine. Her mother's insane, but I kind of like her. She's quirky, and far too intuitive for her own good. I never told you that when we called her on the way to Vegas she, with no hints or warning at all, figured out where we were going and that we were about to elope. Knowing Charlie and Renee... it puts Bella in perspective. She really is an odd mixture of the two of them, with something extra thrown in for flavor."

I stamped down the twinge of jealousy. Of course Edward gets to know his in-laws. Edward is Carlisle and Esme's favorite. Edward is the wunderkind. Edward falls in love with a human. Edward gets to be a father. Of twins. He gets to have a son who will look just like him, and a daughter who will be the apple of his eye. Of course Edward gets to know his father-in-law, a stoic man who is deep and full of integrity. Of course Edward gets to know his mother-in-law, a quirky woman-child whose cognitive leaps put Einstein to shame. Of course Edward gets to have his cake and eat it, too. He's _Edward._ That's the way the world works. Asshole.

"Sounds like fun," I said instead, glad that thousands of miles parted us, and glad that he was usually so deeply imbedded in Bella's head that he rarely bothered to listen into the rest of us anymore. My jealousy was my own and him knowing anymore of it was so deeply intrusive that it was painful to consider. And now I was done with our conversation.

"I'll keep you posted," I said, and we both knew I was ending the conversation.

"Thank you," he said, and then hung up. Edward knew better than to engage in pleasantries either at the beginning or the end of a phone conversation with me, and I was glad he was playing by the rules.

I put my phone back into my pocket, annoyed that per usual, all my plans were for naught. Eleazar's presence had changed nothing, and I still had no answers.

*

_**End Notes:**_ So. We're back to Rosalie's point of view, as you see. And some of you, in the reviews, implied that she was a bit softer than canon. I like to think that she is still in character, but given the circumstances of this fic, we're seeing different facets, and we're seeing how she's capable of changing... But somethings change, and some stay the same. Either way, I'd love to know what you think of the chapter. Please review and let me know, as I am not telepathic...


	40. Telling Most of the Truth

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, EPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

**Book Three**: The Adventure Continues  
**Chapter Three**: Telling Most of the Truth  
**Beta**: Colleen P, who thinks all sorts of snarky things that you'll only find out if you download the PDF version of DESS from my blog, sareliz-dot-com. :)  
**Author's Note**: Yes. Have you noticed it's taking me longer to write these suckers? It is. But fear not, I am in this puppy for the long-haul, as it is proof to myself that I can finish a novel As I aspire to write & publish them, it's quite important that I finish this one, symbol that it is.

* * *

It was an hour after our flight landed that Renee called. Before the call came in, Alice saw it and so I did as well, though Renee couldn't decide on exactly what she wanted to say, it wasn't going to just be about our trip. Bella had already turned her cell phone back on and called Charlie from the airport to let him know that we'd safely landed and were heading back to Forks. Bella was, if nothing else, a creature of good habits, and one of those was to have her cell phone accessible. She explained it to me once by pointing out that she could never count on whether I was in her head or out of it, and if I was in her head, Alice would need to call and Alice would need us to answer quickly, or else she wouldn't be calling.

It was logic I couldn't argue with.

"It's Renee," she said as she pulled her phone out of the left pocket of her jeans. "Hi, Mom," she answered, even as she turned the music that was playing in the background of our conversation off.

"_Hi, baby! How was your trip? Did you have fun in Brazil?"_

"Um, yeah. It was good. I always like hanging out with Edward's family. They're cool."

Bella was getting better with avoiding the whole truth in conversation, but this wasn't her finest moment. She'd done much better with Charlie on the phone, last week. She was much better, I noted and not for the first time, when she initiated such a conversation. When she had to react and think on her feet, it showed.

"_I'm glad to hear it, even though that's really not why I called. You're still driving home, right? Is it just you and Edward in the car?"_

Bella gave me a worrying look and I picked up vague thoughts of apprehension about what her mother wanted to talk about now. I wanted to be in Bella's head, but I needed to watch out for speed traps, given how fast our entourage was flying down the highway.

"Uh, yeah. Just me and Edward. The rest of the family is driving behind us." And so they were. Carlisle, Esme, Alice and Jasper were in the Mercedes and Leah was on her bike between our two cars. Jasper was even now thinking about getting a motorcycle, himself. He was daydreaming about exactly what sort he'd like most.

"_Hmm. So that means they are out of hearing range for this phone call, or they're not?" _Renee asked in a somewhat sly tone of voice that had Bella's head jerking around to mine. Her eyes were wide.

I raised my eyebrows and whispered softly to her, "Here we go." Bella just paled further. "Breathe," I whispered, my tone coming out harsher than I had intended.

"That's kind of a weird question, Mom," Bella replied in as even a tone as she could muster, I was sure.

"_You've married into kind of a weird family, Bella."_

I glanced over and watched Bella swallow harshly. "I dunno. I think they're kinda sweet. They're all really wonderful people, Mom. You'll meet them when you come out for the wedding in June."

"_Oh, so you've set a date?"_

"Well, we need to check with the priest, but we're thinking June, right after graduation."

"_Oh. Well. Keep me posted. But don't distract me. I want to know what is going on with Edward. And you should know that I've already spoken with Charlie."_

"Really? And what did Dad have to say?"

"_He tried to distract me, too. Do you realize he knows you two are married?"_

I didn't realize it was possible for the blood to drain further from Bella's face, but it did. "Breathe, Bella. Right now, or I'm pulling over," I said. I watched as she took a shaky breath. "Put her on speaker phone," I said in a softer voice.

"Mom, I'm gonna... uh, put you on speaker phone." Her hands shook as she pulled the phone from her face and looked for the correct button to push. She put the phone down on her thigh, then, and reached over to clutch at my hand. _Oh my god, Edward! What if she knows? She __**can't know! **_

That was all I caught because the rest of her thoughts quickly devolved into incoherent anxiety that had quite a lot to do with her growing fears about the Volturi. Bella's opinion on this had obviously clarified since the last conversation we'd had on the subject.

"_Oh good. Hello, Edward. I imagine you were following along just fine with our conversation, but now at least you can participate in it. Which is just as well, as I have some pointed questions for you."_

"Nice to hear from you, too, Renee. How's Phil?" I didn't pretend innocence as I said this, but I rather liked the common courtesy aspect.

"_Phil's fine. So, Edward. I feel as if I know so much about you, and yet nothing at all."_

"Well, we _have_ only just met, Renee."

"_Call me Mom. But that's true. More to the point, you and Bella only just met. You move rather quickly, Edward."_

My eyes narrowed as I absorbed the harsh manner of her last statement. "Just for now, I'll call you Renee, or Ms. Dwyer if you prefer. What is it you really want to know, Renee?"

"_I really want to know what you are, Edward."_

"Existentially? I'm a person trying to live and love and be in this world. What are _you_, Renee?"

"_I'm human, Edward."_

"So am I, Renee."

"_That may or may not be true, and if it isn't then it's obvious that you're very good at what the rest of us call lying, but if it is, then this is also true: you're not __**only**__ human. You're something else, too."_

"Sounds like you've made up your mind about me already, Renee. So, why the phone call? Was it your _intention_ to increase the emotional distance between yourself and your daughter?" Bella's hand squeezed on mine, but I didn't look over to see her expression.

"_Of course not. What a thing to say. I'm calling because I have a right to know."_

"Actually, you don't. If I were marrying _you_, then you'd have a right to know. I am, however, _not_ marrying you. I am marrying Bella. Bella knows everything there is to know. Trust her judgment."

"_Charlie knows. If Charlie knows, why can't I know?"_

"Charlie doesn't know everything, and he _knows_ he doesn't know everything. He understands that we are not living on an island unto ourselves, and that we are answerable to others who do not share our humanitarian and non-violent values, others who have stopped at nothing in the past, and who will continue to stop at nothing in order to maintain secrecy. Secrecy, Renee, which means that as much as you know about me right now, that's what you'll get to know."

"_I don't like it."_

"I don't expect you to. I like you, Renee. I'm not saying this to be cruel. I like you, and I like that our relationship has been a positive one thus far. On the basis of that, I beg you to listen to what I've got to say now. I'm not asking you to _not_ connect the dots. I'm asking you to realize that we don't live in a perfect world. I'm asking you to realize that the protection Charlie has you and Phil do not enjoy. I'm asking you to realize that if you can't go with the flow without resisting, there will be a point at which Bella will have to choose between you and me, and I think you already know how that choice is going to go. If you stop resisting, Renee, Bella will never have to make that choice."

"_Charlie trusts you."_

"Charlie trusts me because he knows that I would die before I let harm come to Bella," I said.

"_You've never sounded like a eighteen year old."_

"You're not the first to notice that."

"_So, this is it? We can never talk about this again?"_

"I think that's an unrealistic goal. But let's be intentional about our communication, alright? Not over phones, not in print, not in email, nothing that can be overheard, monitored, recorded or otherwise traced. When we talk face to face, when I can assure you that we have privacy, when it is you and I and Bella alone, then you can tell us your theories. Outside of that, every thing's normal, okay?"

"_I... okay. Okay. I... I should go. I need to... think. I love you, Bella. I love you so much, and I'll talk to you soon."_

"Bye, Mom," Bella said, though it was more of a croak.

I picked up the phone off her leg and ended the call, and stowed the phone in a nook in the dash, before picking up Bella's hand again and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Let's take a moment to breathe, love. In and out, nice and easy." I took a deep breath with her. "Again." And a moment after that, "Again."

Carlisle approved of the way I'd handled the conversation and all the while it occurred I saw the myriad of different ways it could go in Alice's mind as she obsessively searched the future. Jasper had calmed me down in the beginning when I had, indeed, wanted to verbally bite my mother-in-law's head off. Leah was of the opinion that Bella and I got all the fun, but then again Leah didn't have to worry about calming Bella down from one of her rare moments of emotional imbalance. Esme, meanwhile, was thinking thoughts filled with compassion for Renee. She was the only one.

I took a deep breath and thought briefly about my options for this present moment.

"_We're fine with it, and Bella will be too. Go ahead and ask," _I heard Alice say behind us.

"Sweetheart," I said, addressing Bella. "I don't know what you're thinking, but right now, I'd love to switch with Alice and Jasper so I can hold you in my arms and you can hold me in your mind. What do you say?"

"I say yes," Bella breathed out.

"Eight years, eight years, eight years, eight years," I heard Leah chanting, right before I heard her say sharply, "Jasper, stop that. If I wanted to be calmer, I'd go right on ahead and calm myself down. If I want your input, I'll ask for it, brother mine. So, are we pulling over or what?"

We did pull over, and when we switched spaces, Alice gave Bella a hug. I sank into Bella's mind and let one part of my multi-track mind range over all the things we had to look forward to in the coming months. We would announce our engagement and plan our public wedding. Bella would finish her tattoo and we would both graduate. There was a high probability that I would be able to get Bella to the spring dances - the girl's choice and the prom, both. We would teach Leah to carve and have her practice on wood, then metal, then me before she came near Bella in a pregnant state. Now that Charlie knew that I spent the night with Bella _and_ that we were married, we would need to have a talk about what might change. I had a feeling I'd be using the back door more often than Bella's window, though we would still remain respectfully quiet when Charlie was in the house. And children. We would be having children. I wasn't quite up to smiling when I thought of that yet, but I was becoming more and more comfortable with it. I wondered how soon in utero I would be able to hear them. I went perfectly still for an entire half a second when I realized that I would be able to _hear_ them before they were born. Jasper would be able to feel them.

Wow.

I could talk to them, and it's possible that they would respond. I wondered what it would be like.

I shifted as Bella came close to me in the car. Carlisle had only just begun to pull away. I had slid into her mind only a half second before and felt the sense of relief wash over me. Bella, Bella, Bella - she was the center around which everything good in my world revolved. I put my seat belt on and then beckoned her to sit sideways in my lap. She nestled in and made herself comfortable as I wrapped my arms around her and we spent the rest of the drive home being quiet and progressively calmer.

_What happens when we get home? I mean, the Swan Residence? I mean, Charlie knows and this could be really cool or deeply weird... possibly both. Or it could be really bad. But you're super hungry, and I know you need to hunt, and maybe you should really do that before you talk to Charlie because while you were something to behold with Renee, really, you were, I really think that the conversation might have happened with more tact if your stomach hadn't been gnawing itself... or whatever is the metaphorical equivalent for vampires._

Before I even knew myself, I was angry at Bella's assessment. Bella had been completely unable to cope, utterly disarmed at Renee's approach and _I _was the one who dealt with the situation because she _couldn't, _and _she_ tells _me_ that _I_ could have handled it better? Yes, I was hungry, but that was beside the point!

And then I heard Alice yelling at me, vampire fast, from the car ahead. "Don't do it, Edward! Whatever is going through your mind, whatever just provoked the spike of rage Jasper is now dealing with, don't you dare start it with Bella because I see her giving you a verbal bitchslaping of epic proportions, right there in the back of the Mercedes. It will take the two of you _weeks_ to recover from it and you'll be sorry the _moment_ the words are out of your mouth. The very _moment_,Edward. I'm not kidding. On whatever subject you want to mix it up with Bella, is it _really_ worth lashing out at her like that?" Alice kept on, in a similar vein, but I was also listening to Bella, who had noticed something shift about my demeanor, though it's not clear to me what exactly she noticed.

_What's going on, baby? Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me..._

I took a deep breath and tried to be honest with myself, first.

"Much better!" Alice commented.

"Bella," I said quietly. "It... it hurts my feelings to hear you think I handled the conversation with Renee badly."

She looked up at me in surprise and alarm and kissed me, hard. My reactions were all over the place - a moment ago I was rageful, but now I was hard as anything and briefly debated the benefits and drawbacks of taking her in the back of Carlisle's Mercedes whilst Carlisle was driving it.

_No, no, no, that's not what I meant! Well, sort of, but really, not really. It's like... masterful. A little high-handed, but in a way that is, when I look back on it, kind of sexy. Not that I was really appreciating that aspect at the time. I was a bit preoccupied with freaking out._ Her hands slid up my chest and cupped the back of my hand as I held her close to me, my tongue sliding against and around hers. _But you went, like, all Alpha Male on Renee, and I get why, but I also know that if you'd been not quite so hungry, you probably would have come at that conversation in a different manner. And probably had to have said some of the same things, but the hallmarks would have been different, you know? And the Alpha Male thing worked with Renee, but you and I both know that shit doesn't fly with Charlie. And maybe if you talk with him you wouldn't go there, but you're kind of hungry and Alpha Male seems to be a fun and easy role to slip into when you're kind of hungry. It's a little more confrontational than I think we really need to be, while in conversation with Charlie, you know?_

_But I'm sorry, Edward,_ she thought at me. _I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I think there were a variety of ways either one of us could have successfully had that conversation with Renee, and I'm really, super grateful that you __**did**__ handle it successfully, because I sure couldn't, not right then. I mean, I was totally freaked out, you know? And I'm so grateful that you jumped in. But it is true that you react differently when you're hungry._

I broke off the kiss ever-so-briefly to confirm that I knew it was true. I murmured it against her lips before shifting and diving back in, letting her flood my senses, and allowing my mouth to do to her mouth what other parts of my body wished to do to other parts of her body. I briefly surveyed the time ahead of us but it took a fraction of a second to confirm that the soonest we could engage that intimately would be my hunt, if she chose to accompany me, and later tonight, if she didn't.

_And seriously, Edward, the Alpha Male thing? Super sexy, but use it wisely. It's a weapon that I, as your mate, don't want you to use in public too often._

I nodded and murmured against her lips. "But I don't want to leave you to have the 'guess what, we're married' conversation with Charlie alone," I said.

_Are you sure? I could talk, you could hunt and we could meet back in my room, after._

"You shouldn't have to do that alone, and I don't want Charlie to think I've dumped it all on you."

She leaned in and kissed me again, after I'd made my point. _Okay, I can understand that, and I appreciate the support. How about I do most of the talking and you be supportive. 'Cause you know I dig the unified front, thing. You know I do. And then you can go and hunt and I can catch up with Charlie._

I tried not to be a jealous asshole and suggest that she catch up with Charlie some other time. I nodded instead. It wasn't long after our conversation wound down that the envoy was pausing outside of Charlie Swan's house. As Charlie was coming outside, Bella was giving everyone hugs and Jasper and I were unloading all of Bella's gear and all of mine, as well. It was a tactical decision Bella had made just before we arrived.

Jasper and I brought the backpacks full of clothing and other things and left them in the laundry room. Jasper proceeded me out, and I quickly sorted and tossed a load in before I followed. Charlie had been chatting with Carlisle and Esme, and I was fairly certain I overheard an invitation being extended to Isle Esme. I hadn't been tracking the conversation since it started, but it had happened awfully quickly.

"Well," Alice piped up suddenly. "We're going to get going. I know that Leah is anxious to fill Rosalie in on everything, but you guys have a lot to catch up on." Then Alice gave me a fleeting look that made me wish I'd been in her head just then. Damn.

Charlie cleared his throat before shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Would you mind staying for a bit, Carlisle, Esme?"

They both smiled graciously before Bella piped up.

"Are we invited to this conversation?" I wasn't one to lecture on tone at this point, but she could have been a bit less prickly and still gotten her point across.

"Just assumed you were, Bells. Come on inside."

We followed him in and the five of us settled into the living room.

"So. You're married," Charlie said, and nodded to our hands.

Shit. We'd forgotten to take our rings off. How had that happened? I was really starting to slip on the little things. Even though Renee had broken it to us that Charlie already knew, it was no reason for me to start getting sloppy. I briefly wondered what other little human gestures I'd been slipping on. The next thing I knew I'd be sitting stock still in class again. Damn it.

Bella took my hand in hers and squeezed it tightly. _I got it, baby. Let me talk._

"Well, Dad, it's like this. You know about Edward and his family, and you know that I'm going to be joining them in some very... _significant_ ways. Ways even more profound than marriage. You also know that my safety and well-being is, like, the most important thing to Edward. What you don't know - or, well, maybe you do, I don't know - is that their kind... mates for life. Did you already know that? Oh, right. Anyway, at day one it was a done deal and everything after that was just a matter of time. And it may not surprise you to find out that marriage isn't exactly at the top of my priority list, I mean, it's the twenty-first century, right? But it was important to Edward, and more than that, he was justifiably worried that something would happen to my accident-prone self, that I might become really, seriously injured and that I might die, or that he might have to blow the family's cover in order to intervene before I did. And if he were my husband, well, he would be my next of kin, in case of emergency, and no supernatural covers would be blown."

Charlie took a deep breath.

"Vegas, huh?" He took another deep breath after Bella nodded. "Your mom and I eloped to Vegas, too."

We all looked at Charlie in shock. I glanced over to Bella just to make sure, but according to her mind, she hadn't known either.

"Everyone who goes to Vegas has got their reasons. I get it. I don't like it, but I get it." He took another deep breath and sighed on the exhale. "So, now what? I mean," and at this point he looked at me. "I know you're over more nights than not, if not all nights together - you two aren't nearly as sneaky as you think you are, though I'm sure the neighbors don't know yet." Charlie shifted his focus to Bella. "This mean you're going to move in with him? You gonna finish high school?"

"Of course I'm going to finish high school!" Bella said with great exasperation. "And yes, I'm going to stay here, until our public wedding. I mean... if that's okay." She got quieter toward the end, and I squeezed her hand gently.

Charlie nodded, then looked at me. "I'd like it if you two remained as discrete as you can. I don't look forward to explaining it to the neighbors why Bella's boyfriend is all but living here during the week, but you don't have to use her window, either. There are plenty of doors. Feel free."

"I usually run home to shower and change and either drive over to pick up Bella in the morning, if she doesn't pick me up," I said quietly.

"Maybe you should continue doing that."

"I know this is a difficult situation, Charlie," Carlisle began. "And I appreciate the depth of the awkwardness, here. Please believe that normally we try to blend in, fly below the radar and live our lives. The situation with Bella... this is a one-time only moment. Edward is... Edward is my first-born, you could say, and he has been alone for a very, very long time. While everyone else in the family found happiness in a mate, Edward had only his solitude to turn to for comfort for too long. I realize now that the entire family was so thrilled that he had finally found his connection in and with Bella that we were precipitous in our actions. I fully support the choices which Edward and Bella have made, I want it to be clear, but I also realize the time table on which those choices were made could have involved _more_ time, and more time might have made it easier on you and Renee. On behalf of our family, I'm sorry for that, Charlie."

Bella's father nodded and he sat in silence for a moment more.

"So, what now?" he asked.

"Now, the next year, or now, tonight?" Bella asked.

"Now, tonight," Charlie clarified.

"Now, Edward, who at present is a very hungry man, is going to go get his dinner, and I am going to hang out and have some father-daughter time with you."

"Eh," Charlie responded. "Why don't you go with him? You usually go with him, don't you? I got a lot to think about so, really, you'd just be sitting here watching the game in silence with me. You go on. Why don't you kids do your studying over here tomorrow night, and you can fill me in on the details of that conversation you had with what's-his-name."

Hunting and Bella, hunting and Bella, hunting and Bella, hunting and Bella...

_Baby, are you okay? You've stopped breathing, and you're doing that totally still thing that I know you try not to do for the most part. Is this too much? It's totally your call. Whatever you need, Edward. I can go upstairs and read - no skin off my nose, baby. Just wake me up when you come back so I can get me some Edward lovin'._

"Thank you, Charlie," I said pleasantly. "We'll do that," I said, referring to both of his suggestions. "And thank you for allowing me to be so welcome in your home."

"Ah, hell. It's your home, too, at this point."

In a rare fit of physicality, Bella launched herself at her father and gave him a hug that certainly caught him by surprise. "Thanks, Dad."

In an equally rare fit of emotion, Charlie hugged her back, tightly.

For myself, I was considering which way would be best to endow a retirement fund for the police force of Forks.

Carlisle and Esme excused themselves, and Charlie walked them to the door as I went to fetch the harness and Bella had a 'human moment'. I walked into the kitchen, having decided to wait for Bella there. I thought we could use the back door. Charlie was leaning against the counter, toying with the tab of an unopened beer.

"I think I might have a lot of questions at some point in the near future," Charlie remarked.

"Whatever you feel comfortable asking, we'll answer to the best of our ability," I said, checking first with my internal filter to make sure that my inner Alpha Male was not making a reappearance.

"You and Bella want a bigger bed?"

I shrugged. The room couldn't really support anything larger than a twin with any degree of comfort, but I didn't want to dismiss the major effort Charlie was making. "I think we're okay," I said.

It was silent for a moment more. "How old are you, Edward? You just had a birthday, didn't you?" Charlie was whispering in a way that seemed to intimate pain.

"I was born in 1901," I said quietly. "I am one hundred and five years old."

I couldn't read Charlie's response on his face, but his long exhale was telling. "It's a lot to take in," I said softly. How is it I could so easily muster compassion with Charlie and not Renee? "Why don't you sleep on it, and we'll talk tomorrow. I'll have dinner ready when you come home."

It looked like I would be putting off inviting Eric Yorkie back to the house and giving him the scoop about our engagement until Tuesday. It's possible that I could do it on Monday, and invite Eric to the Swan residence and have him gone before the Chief got home, but I decided it would be better to give Charlie a little bit of room, to let him ask his questions first.

Charlie snorted softly and it made me wonder what was going through his head right now, but I knew it was futile to check.

Bella came back downstairs, then, and said a gentle goodbye to her father before we walked out the back door, hand in hand.

I was feeling pensive. I was annoyed at how I'd handled things with Renee, now, and confused about how I could feel so differently about my mother-in-law than my father-in-law. Once in the cover of trees I stopped and pulled Bella close. We were still visible from the house, had Charlie been looking out the kitchen window, but not visible from the neighbor's back lots. Her arms wrapped around me automatically and for a moment I just held her and was held by her. I was still dwelling in her mind, as I had been since we changed cars and all along I'd been wrapped in the gentle hum of all that went on in the background, behind her clearest thoughts.

_This is nice. What brought this on?_

I nuzzled the top of Bella's head and breathed in her delightful scent.

"Sometimes," I rumbled, "nothing makes sense, except you and me. Us." I sighed.

_Okay. Well, whatever it is, why don't you wait to think about it until you've got a full stomach? Everything will make more sense then._

I growled playfully at her and smelled her arousal deepen - the same arousal that had been a throbbing presence in the car. "Once my physical appetite is fully sated I'll be working on the satiation of my sexual appetite, and I'm afraid, love, there won't be much time for either one of us to think about much this evening."

Bella pulled back and looked at me.

"Well, then. Let's begin."

And then we did. My life would not always be this way, a small part of me recognized. I would not always hunt alone, with Bella clinging to my back. I would not always need to be mindful of how quickly I started or stopped running, nor how aggressive my game was, for fear that in taking it down it might incidentally harm my love. I would be in future days and years preoccupied with other things that would be pleasant or annoying, but I knew in these moments a contentment that put everything else in a calmer perspective, even the most stressful thing there was for me to consider: Bella's health during and after her upcoming pregnancy. I clung to that contentment as I ran.

It was small deer that I brought down that evening and after an hour I'd found managed three of them. Finally as sated as I could be, eating deer and smelling Bella's arousal and blood all the while, I leaned back, still kneeling before my last kill of the evening. Silently, I unfastened the harness that anchored Bella to me, Bella, who from the moment my mouth touched this third and final deer had had her own lips sucking on my neck. Only moments into that third deer, she'd also slipped her small hand out from behind me, down my torso, underneath her own leg until she could grip and massage the bulge at the front of my jeans.

She'd never done that before, but I can say that it adds a certain something to the act of eating.

She slid off my back, and with her legs still around my waist, Bella ended up sitting down directly behind me in the damp grass and leaves.

"Oof."

I growled. The scent of her arousal was already thick in my nose. I spun faster than she could perceive and pushed her gently down to the damp ground. She would have random bits of the outdoors in her hair, but we both needed showers before we went to bed, so I wasn't worried much. "You," I said nearly on another growl, "did a very naughty thing just then." My voice was low and I watched her eyes widen, I watched her mouth gape slightly, though she didn't seem to be breathing just at that moment. "And do you know what happens to very naughty little humans when they grab their husband's cock while he's in the middle of killing his dinner?" I asked, leaning in ever closer to her face even while I was unzipping her light jacket.

"No," Bella breathed out, her voice barely audible, her legs still clinging around my hips.

I ripped her shirt down the center, tore through her bra's center and breathed a gust of cold air down her torso. "The line between eating and sex gets further blurred," I said. I leaned back then, sitting on my heels and then leaning back further until I could reach under the hind quarters of my kill. There was always a little bit of blood that pooled there, unless one was able to hang the animal and drink from the bottom. I tore through the flesh and returned to Bella with a red drenched hand. While it was true that I sometimes took a little bit of blood from the original wound to paint the occasional line down her torso, or perhaps her perfect nipples, I had heretofore left the bloodplay involving something else's blood to that and only that. With as much blood as was currently clinging to my hand I could paint every exposed inch of her, and I intended to do very nearly that.

I palmed Bella's breast, first one then the other before wiping the rest of what was on my palms down her torso. I took the back of my fingers and dragged them along both sides of her neck. I smeared the back of my hand along both sides of the streaked line I'd made on her stomach before I sat back to look at my masterpiece and lick my fingers clean.

"Are you okay with this?" I asked softly between cleaning my index finger and my middle finger.

She raised one eyebrow even as she thought, _I like how you ask after, not before. But yes, I'm fine with it. Though really, Edward, you're leaving me hanging over here. Or was that the intended punishment? You know I don't mind a little bit of blood, baby. Why don't you get back down here and lick me clean?_

I smiled a devilish grin before doing just as she suggested. With little licks and sucks I cleaned every inch that I had soiled with red until nothing remained, though partway through it was necessary for me to unfasten Bella's jeans and allow my fingers to delve deeply into her slick folds as I brought her to climax. Once I was finished we stood and maneuvered as we always did at this point. Bella kept her jacket on, though everything underneath it was shredded from the waist up. I stripped from the waist up; Bella liked me bare, and I did have to contend with the cold. I unfastened my own pants and shoved them partway off my hips to free my cock which Bella then had to take a moment to handle and squeeze. As appreciative as I was, I didn't let her play for long. That could happen later tonight, on a warm and dry bed if she was of a mind. She pushed her own jeans and underwear down her legs until they were caught by the boots she wore. This was exactly as we needed it to be. Then in a feat of what Bella amusingly referred to as Acrobatic Vampire Sex, she bent her left knee, I stepped between her legs and instantly hauled her up and around me, my cock sliding hard and thick into its very own hot and slick sheath. Her legs curled around my waist again, except this time, her pants were around her ankles and my yearning for her was not trapped a fraction of an inch away from where it longed to be.

Bella whimpered and groaned aloud even as her mind chanted _yes _to me over and over. Our coupling in the woods was hard and fast and I promised myself that if I came quickly on just one drop of blood, I could come three times before stopping so we could return. We both had to shower and Bella had to sleep. Further more, it was likely that Bella would want something gentle and soothing before bedtime. I couldn't draw this out. It wasn't right to draw this out. I needed to respect Bella's human needs. I reminded myself all of this several times as I alternated between growling and thrusting and growling and grinding. Drawing it to a close, even as splendid as orgasm always was, was almost painful because I knew I could go longer. I didn't want to rush things.

I berated myself aloud, but too quick and soft for Bella to perceive. "Don't be a selfish ass, Edward. You know she can't go on like you can. Finish this. Finish this, finish this, _finish this!"_

Each time the willpower involved to voluntarily orgasm was almost impossible to achieve, but then the moment I did so, the pleasure was so intense that my mind was literally numbed for a brief span of time. After the first time, I slumped down to my knees and stayed there for the rest of our encounter. I moaned soft endearments to her as her mouth nibbled me and her sweetness squeezed me. Keeping her secure to me with one hand, I used the other to roam her body and caress everything within reach. The sweetness of her body, her mind, and her blood erased all my other cares and worries. I took my ease from her body even as I emptied what vitality I may have in this world into hers.

Sated for the moment, and certainly much more even keeled than I had been two hours before, I held her as I rose from my kneeling position on the sodden earth and walked toward the nearest tree that Bella could use for balance with a branch I could use for leverage. With one hand beneath Bella and one holding that convenient branch, I murmured for her to relax her legs. The moment I felt her jeans and boots brush against the back of my knees, I quickly moved. I held all of our weight from the branch I had in my right hand and even as I clutched Bella close to me still, I twisted my legs out from between hers and planted them firmly on the ground again. It took less than a heart beat to do, but it always threw Bella off so I steadied her and let her lean against the tree trunk before I sunk to my knees to gently help her dress once more.

* * *

It was something of a novelty to enter Charlie Swan's house late at night, yet through the back door. Charlie Swan's house... Well, I suppose it was mine, too, just as he said. I wondered if this meant I was free to make improvements and additions. I was guessing the answer to that was no. Approaching the house I could tell by his heart beat and respiration that he was still awake, and in the living room.

"Charlie's still up. He might want to talk," I murmured to her as we approached the back door.

_Oh, lovely. And I'm so presentable underneath this jacket, too. Perhaps it's time for a bathroom break so I can put another bra and shirt on._

"Perhaps," I whispered quietly, but with a grin.

_Ha, ha, yes, very amusing._

Finally reaching the living room, we found Charlie sitting in his chair, hand on the remote, and staring at the television, but I'd be willing to bet he wasn't really paying much attention to it. I sat down on the couch and Bella temporarily perched on the arm right next to me.

"Hey, Dad. You want to talk some now, or should we wait till tomorrow?"

"Now's okay," Charlie said, distractedly.

"Do I have time to pee first?" Bella asked with a soft smile.

He nodded without looking at her and she carefully got up and went upstairs. Her thoughts were soft and gentle, and full of concern for her father and a little bit of relief that he was so distracted that he wouldn't think much of her not taking her jacket off when she first came into the house.

"Are you alright, Charlie?" I asked quietly while Bella was gone. He nodded absentmindedly.

"It would be alright if you weren't. Whether or not you wish to discuss it, of course that's up to you, but the situation you're in _is_ overwhelming. It's okay to be a bit overwhelmed," I said gently, feeling ever more compassionate towards this man who found himself in the thick of a situation he did not choose.

He switched the TV off and was silent for a moment. "I don't have words, Edward," he said softly, his voice barely breaking through the stillness of the house.

"That's okay," I said.

His voice was still so muted when he did begin to speak again. "I don't know what to do. I don't know what to think. I don't know what to say. I know I've only got a hold of the tip of the iceberg. And up until now, I think it was... I mean, I had... It was okay. A little surreal, maybe, but okay. But knowing that you're married, knowing just how old you really are... Edward, you were born before my grandfather was. That's not vampire and werewolves. That's nothing woo-woo. That's a plain fact. Edward, I'm only thirty-eight years old. How can I be your father-in-law when I'm only thirty-eight years old? How could anything I say carry any weight with you at all?"

"Quite easily, Charlie. For you, the age issue is... glaring, or so it seems from the way you speak. But for me? No. I know beings that are thousands of years old, but about as emotionally mature and compassionate as a nail in a board. They haven't gotten wiser or more compassionate with age. Carlisle, as a twenty-five year old human, had already far surpassed them. It's true that I've had different experiences than you, but the reverse is also true. I've never had the kind of responsibility that you carry in your job, and I've never known the joy and pain of having a child."

"Yet," Charlie commented.

"Yet," I conceded with a small smile. "Besides. I _like_ you. You're a good person, and you're the father of the woman I adore. And she's much like you, really. Many of the things I appreciate about her I also see in you. In that way, you're easy to be with, easy to respect. You have insight into the human condition that I, regardless of my years, do not have. You are a man of honor and dignity. It's true that the role of a teenager is one that I put on and take off like a jacket, but that is largely for lack of anything better to do. Before Bella came into my life, I had my family, so I had companionship and a moral center, but I lacked focus, I lacked purpose. Her very presence has helped me to clarify the impact I'd like to have on the world."

"Oh? What's that?" he asked, glancing up to meet my eye, then back away to stare at the blank television screen.

"Music," I replied. "And philanthropy. We're quite wealthy, in case you were curious."

"Huh." After a long moment, he spoke again. "I guess it's all association. You're one hundred and five. You're unquestionably a responsible adult, and I've got no room to second guess your decisions, however much I may personally agree or disagree. And Bella's your... _wife_... and one assumes, a... fit... _partner_. By association, Bella is also a responsible adult. At the very least, the two of you together... It's just... she's not a little girl anymore," he said, and the last statement was but a whisper. "Through my own foolishness I've gone and missed out on everything."

I gave him a moment to breathe and blink back the tears that I could smell before I said anything. "You did the best you could. I know you did. It's the sort of person you are. You did the best you could, you made choices, and those choices had consequences. But you're wrong when you say that you've missed out on everything. You're there, Charlie. You're there for the birth of your grandchildren. You're in the same room with us. You don't miss out on that. And we're not going anywhere. The first year after Bella changes may be difficult - it may be telephone contact only with her - but after that there is no reason that the two of you can't rediscover a closeness that perhaps you never really knew before. You may have missed much of her childhood, but you'll be here as she blossoms into a beautifully unique adult, and you'll get to know her all over again this way, which is something as I understand, most parents forego the pleasure of doing."

He was silent for a moment, contemplating my words.

"As much as I adore Bella, and really, I truly do, I also realize that she is eighteen. She still has so much more to see, and understand, to absorb and experience of this world. There are so many opinions she has yet to form on subjects she has yet to be exposed to. It's my great honor that I have the opportunity to be there while it happens for her. And you, Charlie Swan, will not be far away." I smiled and laughed. "She's a feisty one, our Bella. Did you know she insisted on getting me an engagement ring? She found the entire engagement ring concept archaic, one-sided and stiflingly patriarchal."

He looked over at me with a raised eyebrow and a half grin, which was exactly as I'd hoped. "Yeah, that sounds like her."

I took off the signet ring and handed it over. His breathing caught as he examined it.

"She loves you very much," I said softly. Charlie was quiet as he handed the ring back, and for several long moments after that.

Charlie was quiet as Bella came back down the stairs. _You two seemed kinda intense. I decided to wait until there was a lull. I thought maybe there were things Charlie needed to say without me being there, you know?_

I looked into her eyes as she approached and smiled. I raised my head and then lowered it slowly. I knew she hated it, but unless Charlie asked about particular talents and abilities, I didn't want to go into detail about my telepathy.

Bella put a hand to Charlie's shoulder ever so briefly as she passed him and took her seat next to me. We held each other's hand.

He cleared his throat and seemed to have a new resolve as he looked at the both of us. "So, tell me about what's-his-face in Brazil. What did you find out?"

Bella squeezed my hand. _I got this one._

"Well," Bella started, after taking a deep breath. "We met with a man named Nahuel who we think is actually older than Edward. He looks healthy and normal, and as if he were in his mid-twenties. His mother was human and his father was a vampire. His was a kind of painful and tragic story. His father was quite cruel and abandoned his mother after he got her pregnant and didn't return until after he was born. She didn't make it through the labor, but his aunt, who was there through everything, took care of him and raised him. We learned a lot - the gestation period is much shorter, six to eight weeks rather than nine months, and the twins will grow up and reach maturity at about three times the normal rate. I'll have to have a c-section, but Carlisle is going supervise that, as well as the birth. We know how to keep me healthy during the pregnancy, and if there are any complications during the birth," and here she squeezed my hands tightly, "Edward is prepared to turn me immediately."

Charlie nodded slowly.

"What kind of risk is there for you, Bells?"

"It's minimal," she said.

"Nahuel's mother was a tragedy that didn't need to happen. If his father had remained, she might have been able to give birth safely, but she was alone, uneducated, and confused about her situation. We will provide Bella with the best care possible. We'll have whatever medical equipment that might be necessary in our home. Bella will be on bed rest from the moment she first feels the twins move. We will proceed with all caution." I stopped for a moment to look at Charlie and meet his gaze. "Bella means the world to me. She is my first priority. Her safety and longevity will _always_ be my first priority. I do want to have children, but not at the price of Bella."

Bella switched out one hand for the other and wrapped her free arm around my waist. I switched hands with her, and wrapped that arm around her shoulder, holding her close to me. In her mind she was wrapped entirely around me, her arms around my torso, her legs around my waist as she sat on my lap. Her face was buried in my neck in this scenario, and it was what had become the standard position for comfort that she pictured in her mind. It always worked, and I felt myself beginning to relax slightly.

Charlie took a deep breath. "It sounds like you're both pretty convinced that this is what you want. What can I do to help?"

I smiled and described my plan to him.

* * *

"Yorkie," I called out quietly, but I knew my voice carried. He whipped his head around with a start and almost stumbled as he walked through the hallway in front of me. I had my arm around Bella and was half in her head, and half out so I could listen to Eric. I'd already noticed that while it was strange to have conversations with members of my family without knowing what they were thinking, it was down right unnerving to talk to people I didn't trust without being in their head. It just seemed incredibly foolhardy, and now that I had more mental control, I rarely took the chance.

_Oh shit__! Cullen. Bella and Cullen. God, he's weird. Whole family. What's for lunch? Stomach feels weird. Should hit the john. No time. What's he want?_

And on he went. Moments like this made me so grateful for Bella in my life, and in my mind.

"You want a scoop of the century for the school paper?" I asked, and watched as his mind went completely blank for 4.67 seconds.

"Yeah," he replied in bewilderment before his brain kicked in again. _She's pregnant. They're all in one big orgy over there. No, that can't be it. Alice was killed by Mexican terrorists? Big charity gig of his dad's? Something about the Indians? After the massive bitchslapping Bella gave Mike that time at lunch, you never know. Bella doesn't look pregnant. Got a new cuff, though, I see. Not wearing Cullen's. Wonder if that's, like, hers. She looks like she got some sun over Christmas. Not much. Holy fuck... is that..._

And then I simply saw what he was focusing on, because Bella did get a very small amount of sun. Not much, really - it was barely discernible. But the thing was, and this was what Eric Yorkie had observed when probably no one else would, she had been wearing her wedding and engagement rings when she'd gotten that bit of sun. There was now the predictable ring of lighter skin on the ring finger of her left hand, prominently displayed as she unconsciously held the strap of her backpack at the top of her shoulder.

My left hand was around her waist, just under the bottom of her bag, but I moved it, instead slinging my arm casually around her shoulders as we stood paused in the middle of the hallway. I slipped my hand over Bella's, brushing my two fingertips across the base of her fingers until I covered the white mark. Yorkie's wide eyes snapped to mine. He may be observant, but he had a terrible poker face. I smiled slightly.

"If you want to hear all about it, why don't you come over to my place after school? Do you know where we live?"

_We? We, the Cullen Hale Freakish Circus Family__, or We, Bella & Me? _Eric shook his head.

Hell, I'd slipped on that one. I'd actually been thinking of all the Cullens, absolutely inclusive of my darling wife. This is why I hated talking with people outside of my family. It was all too easy to slip on small, silly things when in conversation.

"Why don't you just follow me home after school?"

"I, uh, don't have my own car. Mike drove me this morning."

"Ride with us, then. We'll give you a lift back home afterwards, or you can stay for dinner, if you like."

_Aw, baby, I knew you had it in you to be sweet. This is such an improvement over the Brazilian security guard,_ Bella chimed in, her thoughts finally coming away from the class we'd just been in to join the current conversation.

I moved my hand so it covered hers more comfortably and squeezed gently.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Okay. I'll, uh, meet you by your locker after the last class, then."

I nodded and we walked past as he stayed rooted to the spot.

"That went well," Bella murmured to me. She was working on talking more while we were in public. As much as she enjoyed simply thinking at me, Esme pointed out before we'd even left for our Christmas travels that our apparently one-sided conversations weren't good for our cover.

"It did, didn't it?" I said, grinning down to her.

There were only two classes left in the day, and they trundled along at the typical pace. I spent the time primarily writing in my journal, rehashing and considering what we'd learned in the Amazon and what it might mean. The only benefit that came from the hour and a half of writing was to consider that it might be possible to raise our children more or less in public. If Charlie was willing to go along with it, it might be possible to live at least part of the time in seclusion at the house in Forks. Carlisle could continue on at the hospital for at least another six years without having to add makeup to age him, and Esme was at that enviable physical and cultural place where she could remain for the next twenty-five years without altering her appearance - she might be accused of plastic surgery towards the end of those twenty-five years, but she could pull it off convincingly. For myself, with a change of clothes, hairstyle, and bearing I could easily age myself by ten years...

I would have to discuss it with Alice and Esme, of course. And Charlie, to see if he would be amenable to such deception.

I would have to take the twins out to be publicly seen within the first few days of their birth. The town gossips could witness the fact that I had my own infants with me, and Bella could be 'resting but doing well.' And then there would be a veritable flood of pictures that Charlie would show around at the diner on a pre-set schedule. For the first seven years, we would stay here, but everyone could think we were away, going to school.

By that time, we would already have had conversations of how to proceed, and it was clear to me that there were many others in our extended family who needed to have a say in this. Jacob would be my son-in-law, but would he still be the Alpha? Would he have gone on to get his degree, or do something else? What was his passion, anyway? Cars? Was that all, or was there something else? The same questions were valid for Leah as well, but time would tell. I just needed to be patient.

I was not particularly good at being patient. This was probably why the last few periods dragged, even while in Bella's mind. Gym was mildly amusing, however. I tried very hard to concentrate on toning things down physically and it seemed more difficult than usual. Bella tried very hard not to accidentally fall into staring at me, which she did more often than not without even noticing, at which point she usually got incidentally attacked by something or someone. Thankfully none of those incidents today resulted in even a minor injury, unless we counted her pride.

I watched as the gym teacher, a man unfortunately bearing the surname of Clapp, took Bella aside to speak to her quietly.

"Bella, I know gym's not your thing. Sports aren't your thing. I get it. But I need you to hustle out there just a little more. Make an effort. Pay attention and at least get out of the way of people running at you and sports equipment flying your way. I really don't want your grades to pull down just because of gym, any more than I want to see you get hurt. Is there _anything_ physical that you're good at?"

_Sex. _On cue, Bella blushed. "Um, my boyfriend's teaching me how to dance."

Our gym teacher sighed. "Well, that's something, at least. Make sure he teaches you how to line dance. If you ace that unit, I'll make sure you don't fail gym, okay?"

She nodded vigorously and I put it on my mental list of things to do. It would look odd if I asked the teacher for a list of dances directly after class, as Bella and I wouldn't have had time to speak yet, so I decided to wait until tomorrow.

I waited for Bella outside the door to the girls' locker room so I could escort her back to our locker. Her locker, actually. I had one, technically, but I just kept the four things I might have stowed in there in hers. It was more convenient. When Bella was done switching out her books and considering her homework for the evening Yorkie had still not shown up, but I'd tracked down his mind on the way over. He was on his way, he was just slow. When Bella was finished she closed her locker and put her bag on the floor. I leaned back against it and pulled her to me, just lazing in her mind as I cradled her in my arms. The moment was all too brief before the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper joined us. We headed out to the parking lot with no words spoken. It was awkward.

Knowing I ought to, I dragged myself from the sanctity of Bella's mind so that I could hear Mr. Yorkie as well. His thought process wasn't any more or less hum-drum than anyone else's but as I thought my admittedly judgmental and cynical thoughts about his, I was once again reminded of how I had changed over the years - subtly, it was true, but I changed nonetheless.

I couldn't help but to recall what it was like when I'd first woken up. I went from the nightmarish fires of hell to the nightmarish and never-quenched thirst to the nightmarish pandemonium that was the chaos of the collective minds around me. I went, quite literally from one nightmare to the next and then to the next, the latter two of which stayed with me for the next eighty-seven years. It never stopped, until I met Bella. Little wonder I'd been a withdrawn, depressed and deeply cynical creature. I took a deep breath and felt Bella's hand squeeze my own. She wondered if it was something negative I'd heard in Mr. Yorkie's head, but I just looked over to her and gave her a little smile, and an almost imperceptible shake of my head.

_We'll discuss it later then. Not lightly does my love sigh, thus,_ she thought, half quoting the last movie we'd watched together, 'Lord of the Rings: Two Towers'. But I had already returned to my thoughts, half monitoring our guest's thoughts, and half wrapped in Bella's own soothing mindscape.

Chicago had been hell. The crush of humanity around me that first time had overwhelmed my every sense, and though I had then superhuman perception, my psyche was not quite up to speed. Looking back, I think I'd been running from that feeling of being completely overwhelmed ever since. If the thirst wasn't bad enough, and oh - it was, my so-called gift would have been enough to drive a creature insane. Standing in downtown Chicago, I could hear everyone within a five-mile radius and all hundred thousand of them had been shouting down each other in my neonate mind. It was just as well I was not a naturally violent person in life - with Carlisle on that cloudy day, I simply collapsed into a heap. Had I been a more violent person, a killing spree might have been in order. I've since learned to cope with it, but I wouldn't want to spend any significant amount of time in large cities. Small ones are quite enough...

But even so, control and composure wasn't the only thing that had increased within me over the last nearly ninety years. Cynicism and a distain for humanity had also increased. I paused in thought with that notion in my mind. Distain for humanity. Yes, yes, that was absolutely what it was. I wouldn't kill or feed on humans - I had that much respect for them, but that respect began and ended in my eating patterns. Privy to their minds I became an expert in what I took to understand as their self-centered and cruel ways. I lived, I realized now, with an ever-decreasing hope in humanity. Such things as the continuation of war as a way of life (despite the claims that what is now referred to as the firstWorld War was once touted as the war that would end wars - _as if_), the degradation and exploitation of the very environment we must all live in, the sheer narcissism of it all wore me down little by little, bit by bit, day by day, thought by thought. There were pros and cons with being a perpetual student, but one thing those in higher education seemed to have in common throughout the generations was their relatively hopeful outlook on the situation - the brief and flickering belief that humans tend to have when they are young that they could change the world of their parents for the better. It was indeed a brief window, but it was possible that as a telepath, the thing that kept me from going utterly insane was spending so much time in various universities where at least the impressionable youth had hope, which was unceasingly repeated in various incarnations in their thoughts.

And now I had Bella. She wasn't perfect, of course, in the most objective sense. The left side of her face was slightly off from the right. She was too thin. She took on too much responsibility. She gave people who schemed against her the benefit of the doubt. Every month with the regularity of her menstrual cycle we argued and fought over the stupidest of things. Even in her highly regimented and sectioned mind, she occasionally entertained thoughts I was privy to that could be considered cruel, though perhaps as a sad commentary on my own morals, I typically found such thoughts deeply amusing. But she was also so incredibly kind that what had at first caused me to pause in shame at my own reaction to the world, was now beginning to rub off on me.

This is perhaps why instead of holding Mr. Yorkie with utter distain, and mocking his thoughts in my own mind, I saw him with pity. He was just one more young man with a head full of dreams that may or may not actually have any bearing on his present reality or the likelihood of any particular future in store for him. He did the best he could, coped the best he could with a father who drank and a mother who was absent. He poured his energy into observing the world around him, trying to find meaning in what he saw, trying to understand what the story was behind small, seemingly disassociated pieces of information.

As we approached Bella's antique and now beautiful truck in the student parking lot, I realized that Bella would probably want to drive, as she always drove her own truck. This was fine and dandy by me, but all things considered, I didn't think that Eric Yorkie's nerves would have any positive reaction to being in a small enclosed space, inches away from me. After Bella searched through the small pocket of her book bag for the keys to the truck, I slipped them out of her hand, leaning down to whisper in her ear.

"Trust me," I said so only she could hear.

She gave me an arch look. _This better be good. This had better not be any macho bull about me driving you around in front of other people, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen._

I went around to the other side of the truck, motioning Mr. Yorkie to join me with the nod of my head. I unlocked the door and opened it for him, but then circled around to the other side of the truck. Bella had already taken off her pack and thrown it in the open bed in the back. _I'm listening,_ she thought as I came back around.

"Don't make him sit next to me, Bella," I said softly and quickly. "It doesn't bother you, I know that, but it does bother other people. Swallow your pride, let me drive, and make conversation with him to take his mind off the fact that he's in an enclosed space with something higher on the food chain than he is."

_Oh! Right._

"And smile, so he doesn't think we're fighting," I said with a grin, wondering if Mr. Yorkie could read lips. I made sure he couldn't see mine, just in case.

_I'll do you one better, Mr. Cullen,_ she thought, and then giggled. Hmm. I liked a giggly Bella, no matter the reason, really. For reasons I didn't care to examine, my libido perked up. I squashed it down as best I could.

My grin got lopsided as I narrowed my eyes at her. She reached up and kissed my nose before taking a step back, crossing her arms over her chest and giving me an amused look.

"You gonna open my door sometime this century, Mr. Cullen?" she asked.

"Sassy cat," I muttered, still grinning, but also opening her door.

"You betcha," she muttered right back, her words echoing her thoughts on the subject. I enjoyed our brief banter that put us on display as a normal couple in love for the benefit of our guest. We should do this more often.

Bella entertained a significantly nervous Eric Yorkie on the way to our house. The truck's top speed was now seventy, and we went it. When not shifting gears, my hand rested on Bella's knee, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by our guest, but then I hadn't thought it would. My signet ring caught his attention for the first time as well, and he was finally in the perfect position to examine it with reasonable nonchalance. Mr. Yorkie managed his body language fairly well, but his thoughts were racing more than normal and his heart rate was elevated. I didn't need Jasper to tell me that this was difficult for the young man. I tried to be as relaxed and calm as possible, but I realized that I had really had two settings in dealing with the average human - fearful intimidation and a sort of lethargic seduction. Neither was helpful in this particular moment. Thank God for Bella. As much as I did in fact want the reality of our relationship to be common knowledge, I was fairly certain that it was Bella that was going to get us through this encounter unscathed.

As we were pulling into the drive, I decided to park Bella's truck in front of the house rather than in the garage building. Just as we pulled up and cut the engine, Bella's thoughts turned anxious and quick.

_Are you going to be half in and half out for this conversation, or totally out? I mean, are you going to need to manage other people around us, too?_

As Eric opened his door and slid out, I too opened mine, but waited half a moment. "Both," I replied to her quietly. "But mostly half and half. I'll play it by ear, but you know I'm calmer and more tractable when I'm at least half in," I said with a self-depreciating smirk.

"I'm a calming influence," she said nonchalantly as she slid over. I held one hand out to steady her as she hopped out, then reached around to grab her bag. I placed the keys back in the pocket she normally stowed them in, then slung the bag over my shoulder. Bella handed me the journal and folder of mine that she had held during the ride from school before we met Eric at the front of the truck. Holding Bella's hand, we led the way. As I opened the door I tried to smile in a non-threatening, non-predator way. It's not clear to me that I was successful.

"Welcome to the Cullen residence," I said lightly. I put Bella's bag on the floor and my own props down on a side table as we entered and invited Eric to do the same. He fumbled for a moment to get a pen and notebook, but once he was situated, we continued on, walking toward the noxious smell emanating from the kitchen where we would inevitably find Emmett.

"Wow, that smells really good. I wonder what your mom's cooking," our guest commented to me.

"Oh, I don't expect she's home, yet. Dad's still at work, too."

_That's so weird to hear you refer to Carlisle as 'Dad'. Isn't that weird? That's weird._

I made no reaction to Bella's mental commentary, but continued on. "Emmett's the chef in the family. It's a recent development, actually. I think he's decided to drop out of undergrad and try for a culinary institute this year or next."

"Huh," Bella said aloud. "I hadn't realized he was thinking of making a serious go of it. For purely selfish reasons, I hope he doesn't leave for a while. I'll miss his pot roast."

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Not that your cooking isn't amazing, baby. It is. No one makes tapas like you do. Or salmon for that matter. You know Charlie raves about your salmon." Bella was adorable when she was backtracking.

"Sweet talker," I muttered, loud enough for our guest to overhear. I liked the banter. It made me smile on the inside, and it set our guest at ease. He was laughing as he came into the kitchen. I motioned for him to join Bella in taking a seat at the breakfast island and got everyone something to drink. I got myself some water and even took an actual sip or two. It was thin, weak, and tasteless as liquid goes, but it could have been worse.

"Hey, Emmett, what's cookin', good lookin'?" Bella chirped up, and I couldn't help but laugh silently. My back was turned at that point, and it was just as well.

"Funny you should ask, Bellisima. I've roasted a few chickens and I've got some steak marinating, plus the usual array of vegetables that no one but you will eat unless they are slathered in a cheese sauce. Which I also am planning on. But before that, as a little num num to nosh on - you know how the boys get when they get here from school - I've got fresh basil pesto to go with this amazing mozzarella I found, with sliced tomato on the baguettes that just finished baking about fifteen minutes ago. I've also got a few pounds of shrimp in the fridge set up for shrimp cocktail. Do you think that'll be mixing flavors too much?" Emmett asked as he gently sliced two dozen ripe tomatoes with a knife that looked to be entirely too large for such a delicate job.

"Um, maybe," Bella said, her tone sounding dubious. "Do you think they'll care?"

I snorted in disbelief. It was deeply unlikely that they'd even notice. Food got vacuumed up around here since Rosalie became the Midwife to the Quileutes.

"Are you guys expecting more guests?" Eric asked politely of me as I stood on the other side of the counter, helping myself to a plate of aforementioned appetizers to make up a separate serving for Bella and Eric. I fully planned on picking on a tomato throughout our conversation. Eventually I'd eat the entire slice, I was certain of it with a certainty that rivaled the worst fatalistic drama. Oh, well.

"Rosalie and Emmett have a bunch of friends that are still in high school, most of them, and they come over after school and hang out here, and in the garage," Bella explained.

"The garage?" he asked.

"It's Rosalie's domain," I said.

"So, she's not in school either?" he asked.

"Nah," Emmett responded. "Undergrad with the hope of law school wasn't a big hit for either one of us. Rosie loves cars. You've seen that beautiful monstrosity of Bella's? That was Rosie. Go with what you love, that's what I say."

"Glad you finally figured out what you love. Took you long enough," I quipped.

Emmett snorted back at me. "Whatever, _Edward. _You're composing again, but how long has that been? Seems like decades to me."

I picked up my slice of cheese and flung it at the back of his head.

"Hey! Don't waste the good stuff, dumbass. You may not like cheese, but there plenty of others in this house that do."

"I like cheese. Did someone mention cheese?" Leah asked as she padded in, barefoot in a tee shirt and jeans. Alice had yet to prevail in her wardrobe, but really it was only a matter of time. Leah had the newspaper in her hand, still intent on playing her imaginary stock trading game rather than take me up on doing it for real. She refused to play with our money. Bella and I had both tried to persuade her that it was hers too, as a member of the family, but she really wasn't buying it, yet.

"Edward's throwing cheese, Leah," Emmett whined. "Make him stop."

Bella, meanwhile, was laughing at us all, and our guest was just watching with rapt attention the unfolding of the kitchen drama.

"What kind of cheese?" Leah asked, eyeing the both of us in turn, and setting her newspaper down at the place next to me before moving to the refrigerator. She pulled out the pitcher of iced tea and swiped some shrimp while she was at it.

"Fresh mozzarella," Emmett said. His tone was forceful and accusatory. It was somewhat outraged, to be honest.

"Oh, Edward," Leah said in admonishment. "Throw around some Swiss if you need to, or American - that stuff's not even really cheese - but mozzarella? Fresh mozzarella? That's seriously fucking uncalled for. Not all cheese is created equal, I'll have you know."

"I stand corrected," I said, grinning with my hands held up in surrender.

"Actually, you're sitting," Bella pointed out.

I turned to her, narrowed my eyes, and stuck out my tongue. How's that for being a teenager? Still, she only laughed at me.

As Leah settled in on the other side of me, nose in her newspaper, I cleared my throat. "Anyway. So, Eric, we invited you here because we figured you'd be the best one to tell to get the word out. We didn't want there to be any confusion, or strange rumors, so feel free to ask us any questions you like.

"While we were all away this Christmas break visiting my sister Alice in Mexico, I asked Bella to marry me, and she said yes."

"Tell me more," was his only response. He wasn't surprised, and he didn't fake it. He was, however making notes, and had been on and off since he first sat down.

Bella, however, was pulling out the chain that right now only her engagement ring rested on. I had her wedding ring with mine today, hanging on a chain around my neck. As she worked to get the ring off the necklace and on her finger, she spoke. "We were on a beach."

"Our feet in the surf," I added extemporaneously.

"Watching the sunset," she continued. _Did we have to move several times to chase the surf, or escape from it? Did sand get everywhere? Those romantic stories never go into details like that._

I grinned at her. "She said yes, and I couldn't be happier."

"Kinda killed the buzz to know you'd already talked about with my Dad, though. Seriously," she said.

"Chief Swan knew?" Eric asked.

"Of course. I asked his permission before I asked Bella for her hand, and he granted it."

"Why so soon?" Eric asked, glancing at Bella's abdomen.

"Why not?" I asked rhetorically. I was ready for this question. I'd known it, or some version thereof was coming up. Frankly, I hoped he was getting my response word for word. I'd be willing to repeat it slowly if required. "We love each other. We're going to the same college and we're planning on living together, but when we really started thinking about it, our priorities came out differently. We love each other and we'd like to start a family together, maybe even before college. And we have plenty of time for everything we want to do - me to explore a career in music, Bella to study international law and diplomacy."

"So, it's not..." Eric trailed off, looking again at Bella's abdomen.

"Bella's not pregnant, no. I'm rather old fashioned, I guess, and I can't imagine reaching that level of intimacy without the corresponding commitment." I shrugged for added dramatic effect. "There won't be any children until at least nine months after our honeymoon."

"To be honest," Bella added, "Edward's not the only one who is old fashioned. It's his entire family. Living together, having kids, all that? Marriage first, definitely. But they like me, so that's good."

Leah snorted and we all looked at her.

"What? Come on, B. You're like the master of the understatement over there. They don't like you, they adore you, and you know it. You've been absorbed by this family, and you love it."

Bella just giggled and nodded. _I do, it's true._

And just then the rest of the pack came in, including Sam. Leah hid behind her newspaper, but Emmett saved a bowl of shrimp just for her and slid it underneath.

I imagine that the Quileute youth coming through our kitchen is something akin to locusts descending, but I can't say for sure, only having read about the locusts. Well, there were those documentaries on the History channel, but I'd still never witnessed a literal plague of locusts in person. Metaphorically speaking, however, it was my opinion that the Quileutes came close. Conversation did pause and everyone but Eric got some sort of jostling as a form of greeting, aside from anything actually spoken. They were only around for four minutes and thirty seven seconds - which was exactly as long as it took to say hello, inhale food, and grab sodas before heading out to the garage.

"Uh, were they all Quileutes?" Eric asked, bemused.

What's more, they were all half-dressed, physically massive Quileutes. Tee shirts weren't wildly popular with the boys.

"You got a problem with Indians or something?" Leah said, her short temper snapping as she leaned into the counter and looked around me and Bella to glare at our guest. I instantly put one hand on her forearm.

"He didn't mean it like that," I said to her quietly even as Bella responded brightly to Eric.

"Oh, totally. We've got lots of friends on the Rez. My dad and some of the elders go way back, and you can see that all the cool kids hang out over here at one point or another," Bella said.

"Whatever," Leah muttered, snapping her newspaper back in front of her face. Emmett moved to refill her iced tea. "Thanks, Em," she muttered.

I squeezed her arm gently before turning back to our guest. I wrapped my arm around Bella's shoulders. "Well, that's it. That's what we invited you over to tell you. Do you have any other questions before we get you back home?"

"Uh, so, your parents are okay with this then, Edward?"

I nodded. "Completely. But then, they've always supported me unconditionally. But they adore Bella, and everyone is excited at the prospect of us starting a family." That was the right euphemism for having children, right? 'Starting a family?' As if we weren't already a part of one. What a strange saying, really.

Eric asked a few more questions about the location and well-being of members of the family who were yet unaccounted for, but the interview was quickly over. We all agreed not to say anything, and that Bella wouldn't wear her ring until Friday, when the article would come out in the newspaper.

I was surprised when Leah offered to take Eric home for us, but when I offered her the use of my car, she perked up and asked Emmett for his Jeep instead. He acquiesced on the condition that it wasn't currently being taken apart by an overzealous motorhead. When they'd left the kitchen we lingered a moment ourselves.

"Well, that went well, don't you think?" Emmett asked, his back still turned to us as he continue to prepare dinner. But my hands were cupping the back of Bella's head, my fingers tangled in her silky tresses as my mouth explored hers all over again. She tasted vaguely of pesto, but it was negligible. She tasted mostly of Bella and I couldn't get enough.

"I love you so much," I said to her. I murmured it against her lips, but then leaned back to get a better view of her entire face. I was thrilled that by the end of the week it would be common knowledge that at least we were engaged. I couldn't currently imagine ever going through the ruse that my brothers and sisters so often had of being somewhat related, but merely dating. I wanted everyone to know that I belonged body and soul to this astounding woman before me, and that the belonging was mutual. I loved her with everything I had, and I wanted everyone to know it.

* * *

_**They'll Say, 'I Do'  
**__Reporting From Within The Inner Sanctum of the Cullen Manse_

_Over Christmas vacation on a Mexican beach with their feet in the surf, Edward Cullen asked Bella Swan to marry him, and she said yes. Sitting on a bar stool at the breakfast island in Esme Cullen's luxurious kitchen, this reporter watched as Bella pulled a giant diamond ring __off a chain she wore around her neck and slipped it on the ring finger of her left hand. Both families are pleased with the arrangement, and Bella's father, Police Chief Swan had given his blessing to Edward before the moment on the beach. Answering the question, "Why so soon?" Edward replied, "Why not? We love each other. We're going to the same college and we're planning on living together, but when we really started thinking about it, our priorities came out differently. We love each other and we'd like to start a family together, maybe even before college. And we have plenty of time for everything we want to do - me to explore a career in music, Bella to study international law and diplomacy."_

"_And since Edward, and his parents, really, are so old fashioned," Bella added, "if we decide to start a family together, we really need to be married first."_

_And have Edward and Bella put the cart before the horse? Is this quick wedding really just a cover, a stab at respectability to cover an unplanned pregnancy? No, both Bella and Edward say. Edward is apparently __**very**__ old fashioned. There won't be any children until at least nine months after the honeymoon, this we can depend upon._

_Not long after this announcement was made, nearly a dozen teens burst into the house, boisterous and hungry, and every single one of them a Quileute. The lone female of the group sat down next to us with a newspaper, but in ten minutes all the food and all the rest of the group had disappeared, apparently to the garage._

_Like a Scooby-Doo episode gone right, the giant house in the middle of nowhere is gorgeous, well-maintained, full of light, laughter, people and food, and this is apparently de rigeur for the Cullen-Hale household after school. Eldest children Rosalie Hale and Emmett Cullen are taking leaves of absence from their first year at Dartmouth. Both had been studying law, but both are reconsidering it. "Rosie just wants to work on cars. You've seen that beautiful monstrosity of Bella's? Rosie did that," foster brother and boyfriend Emmett reports. As for him, cooking seems to be the way of his future. All manner of after-school nibbles were being prepared and served for the horde that descended. Middle children, Jasper Hale and Alice Cullen are still away, though expected for the summer. Parents Carlisle and Esme Cullen were not yet returned from their daily pursuits, but all reports count them as thrilled for their youngest foster son and fully supporting his relationship with their future daughter-in-law. The date of the ceremony has not yet been set, but can be expected early this summer._

_

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_**End Note: **_If you haven't checked my blog lately, then you missed the blog post that Anne Rice herself commented on. Seriously now, don't you think you ought to go look at sareliz-dot-com? Subscribe to the blog and you'll find out all sorts of good things, like when I publish my first novel...


	41. Family

**Title**: The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: The Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer.  
**Continuity**: Midnight Sun, RPOV, Canon pairings, Canon ontology, AU.  
**Rating**: M.

**Book Three**: The Adventure Continues  
**Chapter Four**: Family  
**Beta**: Colleen P, who combines razor wit with researching acumen & striking beauty. Hand the woman a gun and she'd be a great roleplaying character.  
**Author's Note**: Yay! A chapter.

* * *

Bella blinked at me. She was definitely having a human moment. "Tell me again how this is going to work." I decided to break it down in a different way for her. For good measure I shifted slightly behind her as we lay on the couch together. Charlie was silent in his chair, listening.

"Okay, we're getting married publicly on Saturday, July 1st. 270 days, or 40 weeks from July 1st is April 7th of 2007. That, or a little bit after is the due date we want to shoot for. So, if we work backwards from that, we know that the twins will develop quite quickly. You won't have a 40 week gestation period, you'll have a six or seven week gestation period. So, six weeks before April 7th of 2007 is February 24th of 2007. That's when we can stop the birth control. Now, it's possible that you won't get pregnant immediately, but given the fact that the twins will be developing so quickly for you, Carlisle and I both think that you'll know sooner than later. Still, he-and I, for that matter-would prefer if you eat healthy and hearty and get plenty of exercise up to that point. He also would like you to take some vitamins, starting now."

"Exercise? Vitamins? But that's a year away," Bella complained aloud.

I rubbed her belly as I lay behind her on the couch. Charlie had turned off the TV in order to be a part of the conversation.

"I know," I said. "It _is_ a full year away, but Bella, this pregnancy will be very hard on you. It will be. We all know that. You know that. And a hard pregnancy is made easier when the mother in question is in excellent health before hand."

"I _am_ in... okay, I wouldn't say _excellent_ health, but I'm perfectly healthy, Edward."

Charlie just raised his eyebrows.

"What?" she asked, now fully on the defensive. "Am I not thin enough for you? I don't eat crappy junk food, you know. And it's not like I have the hand-eye coordination to be athletic. Just because I can't keep up with you guys..." She trailed off, petulant and angry. I was completely booted out of her mind at that point.

"It's not about keeping up with us. It's about being as healthy and strong as a human can be in order to bear a pair of human vampire hybrids. Anyone would have to change some of their habits, Bella, not just you," I said soothingly.

"I don't like sports." She sounded on the verge of tears. I made a quick mental check, and yes, I had initiated this conversation right before her period. Well, that was dumb on my part.

"You don't have to participate in sports. Have you ever thought about yoga? Tai chi? Belly dancing?" Bella snorted at me.

"Where the hell am I going to learn to belly dance in Forks?"

"I'm sure that Alice is already ordering the DVDs online. And I bet Leah would be game, as well."

"Great," she muttered. "I get to do yoga with a vampire and a werewolf. I'll perpetually be the least coordinated and least graceful one in the room."

"You know, Bells," Charlie chimed in. "I've heard stuff like that actually helps with the coordination issues."

"Besides, once you're pregnant you're on complete bed rest for those six weeks. Don't you want to move all you can, while you can?"

She sighed. "Okay. I'll try yoga."

"I'm sure the DVDs are already ordered for you."

"Joy," she said sarcastically.

"I have the vitamins in my bag."

"Of course you do." Then she started to mutter. "Over-thinking, plan-making, anal-retentive, worry wart vampire..."

I raised both of my eyebrows, glanced over at Charlie and tried desperately not to laugh. Bella just called me anal-retentive. Part of me really wanted to point out that my anus was retaining nothing. Another part of me wanted to be slightly put out. Humor won out, though. I rubbed her belly and kissed the top of her head.

"Don't forget," I added, "loving, attentive, adoring, and supportive husband."

She sighed the sigh of the long-suffering. "That, too," she conceded with a grump.

"When's our next tattoo appointment?" she asked in a calmer tone as she changed the subject.

"I can't believe you're getting a tattoo," Charlie muttered, but Bella heard it quite clearly, which I knew, as she had let me back in her mind space.

She rolled her eyes again. I could just tell. "Eloping to Vegas before I graduate high school and marrying into a family of vampires doesn't phase you, but you grumble about me getting a tattoo? Really? _Really?"_

"I've gotten used to the rest of it," he replied.

"You'll get used to this, too. Besides, you're in it."

Charlie just gave her a baffled look.

_You explain it,_ she said as she let me back in.

"It's a large tattoo that will cover a significant portion of her back. It will have representations of Bella's entire family, including the twins and their future mates, all the Cullens, and you, and Renee."

"Huh. Is it going to have... my name or something?"

"No. No words. You're the pine trees. Mom's the cactii. Do we have the picture here, or is in the other house?" Bella asked me, craning her neck around to look at me clearly as we snuggled in a prone position on the couch, with me behind.

"Neither. The tattoo artist has it. But I can redraw it."

"You wouldn't mind?" Bella asked me softly.

"Not at all. Stay put." I put a small kiss on the side of her face before I quickly vaulted up and over the back of the couch, and out of the room, up to what had just lately become _our_ bedroom.

That was still so strange. Charlie seemed to take everything in stride with a minimum of drama. He was an entirely rational creature. If more of humanity was like this, vampires, or at least vegetarian vampires, could go public without much of a problem.

Of course, there would be other issues. Inheritance, taxes, voting rights, and the backlog of felonies and misdemeanors we commit on a regular basis even though we don't kill anyone. And then there is the moral/ethical question of bringing others into this life, particularly against their will. Also, between Bella and myself, there was the statutory rape issue. The federal age of consent is eighteen, and leeway might be granted when the other partner is within a year or two of having sex with a seventeen year old, but I'm way beyond just a year or two.

I had a brief masochistic fantasy of being brought up on charges for my wooing of Bella. I could see myself sitting in court and listening to the arguments. The argument du jour was that I had seduced Bella while she was still a child. They drew a picture of me as a master manipulator, someone who has combed through high schools, waiting for the perfect specimen to pluck; some poor, easily convinced girl of middling looks and low self esteem who would be grateful for any attention and willing to do anything to maintain it. They painted me as a predator, though the wrong sort of predator. I was found guilty, and the only sentence was death. I saw Bella crying the dry heaving sobs of our kind, being held by Carlisle. I was still conscious as they pulled me apart and I heard her hysterical, blood curdling screams. I was still conscious as they burned me, and the last thing I heard over the pain, the smell of my own burning flesh, and the sound of the fire was the sound of her anguished screaming.

I shook my head to rid myself of the dark and distasteful fantasy. Perhaps the Volturi had a good point about the secrecy issue, even as times were changing.

Still, I wasn't going to get sidetracked and the fantasy, as graphic as it was, took only a moment. I searched out and found a pencil and a sheet of blank paper. I sat at Bella's desk and cleared off a space large enough for the paper to lay flat. As quickly as I could, I redrew the tattoo, framed within the lines of Bella's back. I felt myself calm as I imagined the soft skin and gentle curves of her frame. When finished, I walked down stairs and back into the living room at a standard, human pace. I had the initial thought that I would hand the paper to Charlie and linger to point things out, but instantly remembered that rational though he was, he had a very reasonable and negative response to my close proximity even when I meant well. Instead I handed him the sheet of paper and sat down on the floor with my back to the sofa, roughly where Bella's head was. Immediately I felt her warm arm snake out from under the blanket and wrap around me, just under my chin.

As Bella explained the drawing and the significance of each part to her father from her position on the couch, I zoned out. The darkness of the fantasy still disturbed me. The world was changing so quickly, and much faster than it had in all other periods of history, even in Western Europe during the Enlightenment, even during the rise of the Roman Empire. There were times when I imagined all the good that could come from such a change, but in moments like this all I could do is worry.

I tried to snap out of it and think of something else, but it wasn't really working.

What if the general population found out about us? Worse, what if the American government found out about us? Above and beyond any other country, I trusted the covert operations of my own least of all. Would we need to adopt the nomadic lifestyle of most of our brothers and sisters? What if one of us were caught?

My mind spiraled down into the darkest of places. Would it be possible to restrain one of us successfully? To break one of us? Even one of us would be infinitely useful in any black operation against any foe. Our ability to go without food for weeks at a time, our heightened senses, our inhuman strength and speed. They would see us as superheroes - or supervillains, depending on their point of view.

I turned over hundreds of possibilities as I sat on the floor, barely feeling Bella's fingers as they played with my shirt.

"Where'd you go?" Bella murmured in my ear. She had to have leaned in and over, but she obviously wanted a response and her father was still in the room, hence her murmur and not simply a question thought to me.

I took a deep breath and sighed. "Just meditating on dystopian futures," I replied quietly.

I heard Bella's mental image quite clearly. If it wouldn't hurt her, she might have swatted me for that. Instead, she grabbed onto the part of the shirt she'd formerly been playing with and tugged it hard.

"Don't _do_ that," she said. _It only takes you to the dark place, and no one really knows what's going to happen in the future anyway. It's not set. Even the tiniest changes you or I make to our day can totally change everything, and by everything I mean our own experiences and the experiences of everyone whose lives touch ours. I mean, what would have happened if my brain was as murky as Charlie's? What would have happened if you'd liked my blood as much as that Tracker guy? __ What__ if you'd never encouraged me-however tongue in cheek you did it-to reindoctrinate the youngest generation of wolves? Huh? What if Jacob had listened to the crap his father was giving him?_

I didn't bother to mention-partially because Charlie was in the room and had no idea I could read Bella's mind-that two out of her four examples weren't instances of choice, they were instances of a difference in ontology, but her point was well made nonetheless.

What was real was right now. And right now the keeper of my heart had her arm around me as she chatted on and off with her father. I took a deep breath and was taken somewhat aback by Charlie's next statement to me.

"Do you _need_ to breathe?"

It was unlike him to go outside of the 'need to know' policy he'd wholeheartedly embraced, but I decided to go with it. This was the man, after all, who had all but insisted he be turned, should his grandchildren require a little more protection from the Volturi. With that in mind, it made me feel somewhat reckless. I had the oddest urge to just tell him whatever he wanted to know. I'm not sure from whence this urge was originating, but it was surprisingly strong.

"No. Mostly it's an affectation. Our natural instinct is to remain completely still, and so the fidgeting and breathing is to make us appear less like statues and more like humans."

"You _are_ human," Bella murmured mutinously while she grabbed my shirt at the collar and tugged twice, as if to drive her point home.

"The research is still out on that, love," I murmured right back at her. "If nothing else, I'm _differently_ human."

"That's for sure," Charlie added, muttering right along with the rest of us.

"Speaking of differently human, our cousins from the north are coming for a visit. We haven't told them en masse about the twins, but apparently Rosalie called Eleazar in for a consult while we were away. She was worried about the implications and possible Volturi intervention. Carlisle has invited everyone down and we'll be having a summit of sorts. All of us," I said, including of course Bella and Leah, "and the pack. Given your previous comments on the situation, Charlie, I think it would be appropriate for you to be there, if it interests you."

"Just tell me when and I'll make sure I'm free."

"How does all day Saturday look?"

Charlie simply nodded.

_Gah! I really have mixed emotions about bringing Charlie into all of this. I mean, I get it. It makes sense. But... the northern cousins... they have really good control, right? I mean, they're not going to want to eat Charlie, are they? And this is Tanya's family, right? The one who had decided you were marrying material?_

I grabbed Bella's hand and kissed it, thinking about the ramifications of what I was about to do and wondered briefly if I should talk it over with Bella first. I decided to just go for it.

"One thing that will be very helpful for you to understand before you attend, Charlie, is that some of us have particular talents. Extrasensory talents, if you will, above and beyond our individual personality traits. Not everyone has them, but there are some notable ones in our family and our extended family."

_Are you really going there?_ Bella inquired with no small amount of trepidation in her tone. I rubbed the back of her hand with my thumb.

"'Kay," Charlie said.

"One of our northern cousins, Eleazar, he has the ability to sense and understand the abilities of others, and can-to a certain extent-discern them in people before the change. We're curious what he'll say about Bella."

"Bella?" Charlie asked, dubiously. "You think Bella's going to have one of these... _talents_?"

"I'm certain of it, and so would you, if it came to that. The strangeness of your mind seems to be hereditary."

"'Scuse me?" Charlie said with one eyebrow raised. It seemed as if he was still working out whether or not my words were an insult.

"Bella's mind. If it hadn't been for you, I'd say her mind was one of a kind. It may still be, as I have no desire to investigate yours to the depth Bella has allowed me in hers, so I can't say for sure. But you're both quite extraordinary. Your minds are quite naturally very tightly guarded. More so than the average person."

After a moment of staring at me through narrowed eyes, Charlie spoke. "What does that mean?" His question came out more as a statement, however.

"Well, I'm one of three people who have an interesting talent in our immediate family, if we don't count Bella, which I think we probably should at this point. So, okay, I'm one of four. Each one of us has a very different party trick. Alice sees the future, but only some of the future some of the time from some people, and it changes every time people change their mind or course of action. She's a crack shot at the weather and the stock market, however. Jasper can absorb and alter the emotions of the people around him. But his isn't a perfect science either, and it's all too easy for him to get overwhelmed or worn out when dealing with truly intense emotions of those around him.

"And I... am a telepath. Before I met Bella it wasn't something I could control in the slightest, which is one reason that we don't live in large cities. Before Bella I couldn't help but hear the incessant chatter of every mind within five miles." At his look, I added, "Don't worry, I can't hear what you're thinking right now, whatever it is. One of Bella's priceless gifts to me is that whenever she is near, I can essentially crawl inside her head and she blocks out the rest of the world. She has very strong mental walls-you both do, really-and I'd never encountered the like before. When I'm functioning normally, she's very hard to hear, as if the volume of her mind was turned down low. You, on the other hand, are like a distant radio station. Sometimes I hear you, sometimes I don't, and with no apparent rhyme or reason."

"Huh."

"This is a lot to process," Bella said out loud.

"Really just the recent batch of 'a lot to process'," Charlie corrected.

"True."

"Explains the one-sided conversations you seem to have when you think I'm not paying attention."

_Shit__._

I just nodded. "We haven't been as careful about that as we ought."

"So, you... uh, you hear everything Bella thinks, then?"

Bella chuckled-it really was deeper and shadier than her normal giggle. "No," she said angelically. "My mind is like a mansion with many rooms," she said, inadvertently referencing the quote from the Gospel of John. "And I close doors on Edward all the time." I could tell she was grinning.

"Bella's quite unique in her ability to do _that_ as well. The rest of my family only _wishes_ they could pick and choose what I can hear of their thoughts."

"I can see how that'd be handy, though," Charlie said.

"Extremely, especially in maintaining our cover and keeping the secret. It is trying, however. Though, less so," I corrected, "since Bella came into my life." I heard her lean toward me and felt her gentle kiss on the back of my head.

"Huh. So. Saturday. Can you tell me exactly who all is going to be there and what I can expect from each one of them?" Clearly Charlie didn't like going into a situation like this without a lay of the land. It made all kinds of sense, really, and I could hear Bella perk up, mentally.

I proceeded to give a bit of detail to the characters we would see from the north and I touched upon the issue of Immortal Children briefly so that Charlie would understand why the sisters might have an initial negative reaction. When I pointed out that to the best of my knowledge, the Denali and Olympic covens were the only sets of vampires in the world who did not indulge in the standard diet, Charlie was taken aback.

"That's... pretty daunting. I guess... I assumed..."

"That the percentage would be higher?" Bella asked

Charlie gave a noncommittal murmur that might have been of agreement, or it might just have indicated that he was still thinking about it.

"When Carlisle was wandering, before he came to this country, he spent quite a bit of time in Italy, and with the Volturi. He was an oddity. They called him 'il stragoni benefici', which might best be translated as 'the vampire do-gooder'. Given that he steadfastly refused to drink from people _and_ was studying medicine, it was an apt appellation."

_Wait, wait, wait. Il stragoni benefici? I've heard of that! Er, him! I came across that, didn't I? I think I did. I was curious and did some research. Have we already discussed this? Shoot, I don't remember if I told you already. Stupid, swiss cheese memory..._ Bella's mental ramblings degenerated into grumblings and half-remembered snippets of internet research she had done.

I kissed her hand in response to it all.

"Anyway, Jacob and Sam will certainly be there. Leah will likely be there, though perhaps not always in the room."

"How's she doing?" Charlie asked.

"Much better, lately."

"She know about Sebastian yet?"

I nodded, and Bella answered. "She decided she wanted to know one day when she and Edward were having a heart to heart, so he told her. She's in a much better place, though, especially since Brazil. She seems a lot more even keeled now, though still pretty tough."

"She's agreed to help with the birth," I added. I seemed to be adding quite a lot of unasked for information. Was a strange planet in an odd constellation? I mentally shook myself. I really needed to get over this.

"Huh. 'Kay." Bella's taciturn father was clearly turning these things over in his mind, though I didn't feel threatened enough to see if now was one of those times when I could hear even bits of pieces of his thoughts.

I decided not to go into unnecessary details about the cesarean section unless specifically asked for by Charlie. He didn't ask, I didn't say, and I hoped my urge to pour out all the details of my life had now passed.

Instead, I concentrated on telling him some pertinent details about those assembled.

"Eleazar was with the Volturi for many years, but had qualms and was able to break free and under fairly decent terms." Meaning they weren't hunting for him. "Eleazar is only one of two in our extended family who has a discernible talent. His mate, Carmen, is a very loving and maternal woman. They are both originally from Spain, and though I'm not sure how old they are, I know they're on par with the Sisters. I think they joined them in twelve or thirteen hundred, but they've never been clear with Carlisle or myself on that point. They don't even think about it clearly.

"The Sisters were originally sisters, and their mother, Sasha, made them what they are. Sasha, as I mentioned, was killed by the Volturi, along with the child. They do not say his name, so I won't either," I said, even as I thought it. Vasilii. His name was Vasilii, and once turned he never grew old. I'd seen him a number of times in their mind's eye. He was beautiful, heart-breakingly beautiful and terrifyingly deadly. If they'd been able to control him, perhaps the Volturi wouldn't have been called. Perhaps that's not true, but it was the thought that Kate had most often. I snapped out of it and back into the information download that Charlie had requested.

"Tanya, Irina, Kate are about a thousand years old, give or take. I'm not sure what the exact year was, and I'm not sure they know either, but at least they don't often think of it."

_Whoa__, really? _Bella asked, stunned.

"Whoa, really?" her father asked just a heart beat later.

Bella laughed and I smiled. When her father looked at us funny, she responded aloud to him. "I was just thinking that."

"It's an impressive number, but they've been vegetarian for most of that time, and at least since Carmen and Eleazar joined them, as I understand that was the reason they joined them.

"Kate is the other with a talent. Hers is one of physical defense and offense. She can give an electrical shock through skin contact."

_Huh. Interesting. Kinda weird. Um... Are you going to say anything about Tanya? _

What would she have me say? No, I didn't think that would be a good idea. I was debating on whether or not to mention the Succubus part, but as I'd already made it clear to them that Bella's father might be there and that Bella's father was absolutely off limits, I didn't think it would become an issue. I kissed Bella's hand, instead.

* * *

With Bella's blessing I had asked Rosalie privately what she thought about Bella and I telling Jacob who he was going to be imprinting on before the summit happened this weekend. Even I realized that the input from the wolves would be better if their alpha knew about his future, and it was definitely a topic that might come up in discussion. Bella agreed with my reasoning and Rosalie agreed with our reveal. We would do it after dinner on Wednesday night at Charlie's house. Leah and Jacob were the only wolves who were ever there, but they were pretty consistently there, aside from our brief Christmas break away.

Since it was one of Jacob's favorites, I decided on some venison steaks for Charlie, Leah and Jacob, but as venison was not Bella's favorite foods to eat-an outlook with which I could certainly commiserate-I broiled a filet of salmon for her and made a light lemon pepper sauce for it. I created a vat of Jacob's favorite mashed potatoes with cheese and brought over two loaves of sourdough bread that Emmett had made yesterday. To this menu I added some steamed string beans with the full knowledge that only the women would eat them. Charlie was a grown man, however, and could make his own vegetable consumption choices. As for Jacob, he already had a mother-Rosalie. While I might, in fact, be his father-in-law one day, he didn't realize it yet, and I just didn't have it in me to tell him to eat his vegetables. Maybe next week.

When Charlie got home from work and saw what I was cooking, I could tell from the look he gave me that he knew something was up. Never had I ever made a meal that I did not think Bella would enjoy, and then proceed to make her an individual portion of something else. Charlie knew my normal priorities placed Bella first. Still, he kept his peace and went to go check on the small charcoal grill for me.

When he came back in he got a beer from the fridge and casually lingered in the kitchen. Bella was teaching Jacob and Leah how to play chess in the living room, and Leah was brutalizing Jacob's forces. They were all somewhat occupied, but I knew that we couldn't possibly have a private conversation in the kitchen. I was fairly certain that Charlie knew that, too, but I wasn't 100% positive.

I glanced over at him from my tasks at the stove to see him watching me intently.

'_Can you read lips?' _he mouthed to me.

I nodded, and responded in kind. _'Can you?'_

He shrugged, gave a wince, and waggled his free hand back and forth. I took the collection of gestures to mean that he could to some small extent. I would make sure to be over exaggerated in my silent pronunciations.

'_So. What's going on?'_

'_Bella and I will tell Jacob tonight; he imprints on Elizabeth.'_ That seemed like the clearest and most succinct way of putting it.

A look of understanding passed over Charlie's face. He obviously understood. Then he gave us a little laugh.

'_Good luck with that.'_

I raised a single eyebrow at him and gave him the driest look I could manage. _'Thanks.'_

Charlie gave another chuckle before wandering into the living room. He was back twenty seconds later.

"They're playing chess," he said as if he couldn't quite understand why they would do such a thing.

"They're learning how, anyway," I remarked.

"I heard that!" Leah called out. "I happen to be kicking some serious butt in here, and I'd like the record to note it, please."

"You just wait, Clearwater," I heard Jacob mumble.

"That's Clearwater-Cullen to you, Black."

"Whatever, you haven't imprinted yet," Jacob scoffed, and both Charlie and I stiffed and looked at each other, waiting to hear what the still-fairly-volatile Leah would say in return.

She snorted, then spoke. "Clearly you have no understanding whatsoever about my situation. I'm a Cullen by choice, Jacob Black, not because I'm waiting on my imprint. You never know what could happen. The future's not written in stone or don't you pay attention? Bella might not have kids. I might never imprint at all. But that doesn't matter, because come hell or high water, I'm a Cullen, now," she said and while her tone was far from level, it was surprisingly even keeled. I could hear her take one of Jake's pieces and then pull out her necklace. She typically wore it tucked into her shirt and it was on a very long chain. It never dawned on me that Jacob might never have seen it.

"Whoh. Uh, sorry, Leah. I... uh... you've got the crest and everything, huh?" But before Leah could respond, he continued on, addressing Bella this time. "You're okay with this?" Jacob sounded somewhat incredulous.

"That's kind of an odd question. I mean, it's the love life of my future children, you know? I mean, I didn't ask Charlie's opinion or permission before I fell in love with Edward."

"Or before she married you," Charlie muttered. Bella couldn't hear it, but now both of the wolves knew we were listening to their conversation, even if Bella didn't. I nodded to Charlie that we should at least go as far as the doorway so we could be more obvious in our participation. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the doorframe.

Bella, heedless of our sidebar, continued on without pause from her earlier observations. "So what right do I have to say who they can or cannot fall in love with? Who they can choose as their mates? And besides, whenever someone else tries to exert force over these things, it goes horribly wrong. I mean, Carlisle thought Rosalie would be a good match for Edward."

Everyone who wasn't speaking and needed to breathe participated in a group-wide sharp intake of breath.

"Yes, exactly," Bella commented. "And Carlisle was what, three hundred and change at the time? Way more life experience and wisdom than me, and he still got it wrong. The only person's love life I'm capable of rendering a qualified opinion on is my own. And I approve. And as for Leah, I think she's pretty cool, and if Sebastian is going to end up falling in love with her, then she's even cooler than I can imagine. And she's right - even if I don't have the twins with Edward, she's still a part of our family. In that case, we'll just be sisters."

I saw Leah grin and glance in our direction. "Carlisle said that no matter what, he'll consider me his fourth daughter from now on," she said softly, obviously reflecting on the conversation.

Jacob snorted. "Wouldn't you really be Edward's daughter? Or, daughter-in-law?"

Leah just jerked her shoulders, and I didn't need to be Jasper to realize she was getting stressed out by the conversation. It was going to make our after-dinner conversation that much more stimulating, I could tell. That is, it would if Leah was still here by then. It wasn't clear to me at present that she would be.

I walked quickly to the space on the floor occupied by Leah and crouched down behind her as she sat on the floor opposite Jacob's position on the other side of the coffee table. I put one hand on her shoulder as I spoke to Jacob.

"We're a family of adults not bonded by blood, so it works quite a bit differently than the families you may have taken part in, Jacob. Terms like mother, father, sister, daughter are quite relative and we put them on and take them off whenever it's convenient to do so. I've posed as Carlisle's brother as often as I have assumed the role of his youngest son. He's the patriarch of our coven, but the reason he poses as the father is because he is the only male who has really discovered what he loves doing in this world and is actively doing it, no matter where we go or what our cover story is. Carlisle is always a practicing physician, wherever we go.

"The bonds we do have as a family are of affection, and mutual dependency. It is easier for us to live together than apart, but we also care for one another a great deal. Because our diet is as it is, we are able to live so closely bonded to people beyond our own mates. I love Leah as much as I love Alice, Esme, or Rosalie, and that's not going to change if she imprints on Sebastian. My strongest bond is with Bella, absolutely, but I was ready to die to protect them before Bella came along, and I'm still prepared to do that. But of course I'd have to get in line, because their own mate would be ahead of me."

"So you're okay with it?" Jacob asked quietly without looking up from his chess pieces.

"I won't lie," I said. "I'd like to control more in this world than is really my due, and when I realized that Alice had a vision of the twin's mates, when I realized that before they were already born they had been parceled out to their respective mates, that was hard. I had a newfound respect for Charlie in that moment." I glanced over at the man in time to see him raise one eyebrow at me before shifting his focus back to the conversation in general. "But yes," I continued on. "I really am fine with it. Though Bella has a good point; it wouldn't matter if I wasn't fine with it. It would happen anyway."

Jacob nodded, but then stopped abruptly and looked up to meet my eye. "Wait, both of their mates?"

Maybe the after dinner conversation should be the before dinner conversation. It seemed to be happening anyway, after all. Bella's mind was silent on the matter, or she was blocking those particular thoughts, so I decided to go for it.

"Yes," I said. "It wasn't perfectly clear at first, and it took me a bit of time to realize who each of the mates were, but I have figured it out."

"So... it's someone you already know? For Elisabeth, I mean? It isn't that creepy Brazilian guy, is it?" Jacob asked.

"No, Jacob. It's you. _You_ are the man who will imprint on Elisabeth."

I saw Jacob's eyes widen and the air shift around him. Leah had just enough time to say, "Shit!" and I had just enough time to snap, "Charlie!" at her at my fastest speed.

Many things happened at once.

I lunged head-first and high over the coffee table that hosted the chess board and the sofa on which Bella was sitting. I plucked her off the couch as I sailed over, trying to be as gentle as possible. I curled my body around hers even as I rolled and landed partly imbedded in the drywall. I maintained my protective stance as the couch was shoved towards us.

Leah jumped backwards, flipping up and over the furniture to land in a crouch in front of Charlie, facing the center of the room.

In the center of the room, Jacob let out an anguished half-yell that turned into a half-swallowed lupine howl. He didn't move as he shifted, but the space he occupied before was not nearly large enough to contain his furrier form. The coffee table splintered and the sofa and chair were shoved away from him.

I looked up to see him hang his head. I looked around to see that Charlie was safe, if stunned. I had been monitoring Bella's well being since I first jumped, though she hadn't had the opportunity to think much at all, she was fine. Nothing broken, no bleeding, though perhaps with such a jarring removal of herself from the couch, a massage wouldn't be out of bounds tonight. I'd ask.

Turning my attention back to Jacob, I came out of Bella's head so that I could hear him, but his thoughts weren't particularly coherent. He seemed ashamed for losing control and just... stunned.

I pushed the sofa slightly, extracted myself from within the wall and helped Bella to her feet.

"I know it's shocking, Jacob. Bella and I had actually planned on telling you after dinner, not before. We'd considered asking you if you wanted to know before telling you, like we did with Leah, but with the Summit coming up, it was information that you needed to have, as the Alpha of your pack."

_Did Leah already know? About me, I mean, _Jacob asked, not looking up.

"No. And I didn't figure it out at the same time, either."

_Why didn't you tell me sooner?_ He sounded hurt.

"We honestly didn't know the right way to go forward, Jacob. If it makes you feel any better, Alice knew that I was going to find my mate in Bella the moment Bella decided to live with Charlie. It was her decision to come here than cemented it, and that was over two months before she arrived. And Alice never told me. She managed to keep it a secret and just let it play out. And if she had told me... I probably wouldn't have dealt with it too gracefully. I probably would have freaked out at the prospect of falling in love with a woman who wasn't already a vampire. I know I would have underestimated my love and devotion to her, because I know I couldn't have imagined even in my wildest imaginings how I feel about Bella now, or how I felt about her even by the end of that first day. Even though I could read the minds of those who had found their mates, I still didn't really know how much she would be the center of my world. One day she wasn't, and then the next day she was, and it didn't matter that Alice knew two months before I did."

Dinner didn't get eaten that night, but Jacob stayed. I'd been half-afraid that once transformed he would head out and work out whatever strong emotions he was feeling in the forest. Bella promised me that she wasn't hungry and for once I didn't push it, instead wrapping dinner up and storing it in the fridge at top speed so I could rejoin the conversation in the living room that Jacob-now bipedal and wearing jeans borrowed from Charlie that were too short in the leg and too large in the waist-and lend what support I could. It was a long night.

* * *

"Y'know, Edward, there will be a time when you won't be all but living in this house with me. I'll miss my little girl, but I sure will miss your cooking, too," Charlie said in between bites of his breakfast sandwich.

I turned from the stove and gave him a smile before returning my attention to Charlie's second sandwich and Bella's first. She wasn't downstairs yet, but I think I'd timed it right, today.

My phone silently alerted me to a text message and when I looked, it was Alice.

'_Wolves just arrived, chowing down. Rose had to go rouse some of them. Leah okay for now. Denali ETA: 20 min. I have a headache. Make it go away?'_

I texted her back as I heard Bella emerge from her room, her mind clearer now than before her shower. _Hey, breakfast smells great, baby. Can't wait for the coffee._

'_Soon, Alice, soon.' _We both knew that something was going to happen during the pregnancy to allow Alice to see the wolves, and thus not have mind-numbing headaches when she was around them. But I continued on with the message I was typing. _'We should be there in 30 minutes.'_ That would give Bella plenty of time to eat her breakfast in peace.

Also, we were driving her truck, with her father in it. I was betting there would be a general obedience to the speed limit.

I felt her arms go around my waist just as I was slipping the cheese onto the egg as it laid perfectly in the center of the English muffin half. I was getting more effecient at keeping the egg to the perfect size and circumference to the piece of bread on which it would eventually lay, but today was not one of my better days. The egg was not perfectly round. Even with perfect attention on my part, sometimes the eggs just didn't cooperate.

_Good morning, Baby,_ Bella thought, and not for the first time. Typically I got four or five different good mornings. One, when she first gained consciousness. Another after her first orgasm of the day. A third at the close of whatever our early morning sexual activities entailed. A fourth for whenever I see her after her shower, and a fifth if I've had to leave and then return again to pick her up, or if she's come to pick me up at the Cullen Manse.

The Cullen Manse. Her words, but she thinks them often enough that I've started doing the same. It's not the phrase I'd choose, but as Bella has reminded me often enough, she gets to think whatever she wants to, and I don't get to have an opinion. Or at least I don't get to air it.

"Nervous?" I ask Bella, but get answers in stereo.

Bella makes a non-committal noise, but answers more honestly in her head. _A little. Maybe. Yeah, I guess._

Charlie's answer is clear and concise. "Yup."

"Any particular reason, for either one of you?" I asked as Bella took her sandwich to the table and I prepared to pour her a half cup of orange juice and a full cup of coffee.

"You go first," Charlie said to Bella.

_Tanya, Tanya, and Tanya. Those are my top three reasons to be nervous. Don't really want to share that with Dad, though._

I gave Bella an arch look as I passed her the glass of juice before I went about the coffee.

_What? You want me to __**tell**__ him that? No, I don't __**think**__ so._

"You guys are having a silent conversation, aren't you?" Charlie asked.

Bella's face was entirely too expressive to engage in such subterfuge, and I should remember that.

"Um, yeah. Sorry. In my defense, it's sort of involuntary, though. I just think, and at this point, I'm pretty used to Edward being in my head, like, you know, twenty-four seven."

And then the conversation was off and running, Bella having happily derailed it. She was now chattering on about her impressions of how the Cullens took my inability to hear their thoughts. I just sat back and took it in. My family.

The idea encompassed many more people than I ever thought it would. I let my mind dwell quietly there as Bella and Charlie chatted and finished their breakfasts and cleaned up their plates and cups. We shuffled out the door and into the cab of Bella's truck.

_Is there a reason you're practically on top of me over here, Edward? _Bella gently inquired. It was true that I wasn't exactly in the middle of the bench seat. It was also true that there was much more space between Charlie and I than there was between Bella and I. In answer to her question, I chose to address Charlie.

"I'm sorry about that, by the way," I said to begin, and got a baffled look in response, even as he shifted uncomfortably. "You feel uncomfortable right now because I'm too close to you, and there's nothing to distract you from that fact. Your reaction would be even more intense if I weren't vegetarian, but even so... I'm not actively trying to draw you in, so your natural aversion to us is in full force."

"Huh. Well, that explains a lot," he said. "Doesn't seem to bother Bella, though," Charlie commented.

"Carlisle and I think that might be because she and I are mates, and possibly because we are vegetarians. She had a very strong adverse reaction the one time she encountered those of our kind who weren't," I said, unwilling to say the 'V' word in a semi-public setting when I wasn't monitoring the area.

"Huh. 'Kay. All the same, glad it's not a long ride."

"I could seduce you if it would make you feel better," I offered, realizing the moment the words left my mouth that Charlie probably wouldn't take it in exactly the manner I was offering. Shit.

Bella snorted with laughter even as her father blustered.

"I meant," I started, but then Bella began laughing in earnest, and to be heard over her, I had to repeat myself. "I _**meant**_, that I would be happy to use a handy 'party trick' that has nothing to do with sex, thank you Bella, that would leave you relaxed, if not somewhat dazed."

"Uh, that's okay. But thanks," he replied.

"Suit yourself," I said, though I was probably not heard over Bella's laughing. "Do you need to pull over and let me drive? You don't seem quite in control of yourself," I asked her.

"Fine! I'm fine!" she said between giggles. _That was __**so awesome!**__ That one definitely goes down in the books for best faux pas. I need to tell Emmett. And Jacob._

The growl was involuntary, and I regretted it immediately. Bella only laughed harder.

"I'm sorry, Charlie. I-" I sighed and took what I hoped would be a calming breath. "Bella is baiting me, and I'm not as on my guard around you anymore as I once was. I apologize."

Charlie nodded once and then resolutely stared out the side window. Bella continued to laugh. When she pulled into the long, winding drive, she was still giggling under her breath every few moments.

When she pulled to a stop next to a large, black Escalade, Charlie got out forthwith, but Bella lingered for a moment. I turned to her and gently touched her face.

"If you could put a lid on that for a bit, I'd be thrilled," I said with a small smile on my face. I gently kissed her lips. It was brief and chaste, but lovely. "But keep thinking about it," I encouraged, "because I much prefer hearing you laugh than hearing you worry."

She rolled her eyes at me. _We're going to be having serious conversations in there. I'm not going to be thinking about that while we're having serious conversations, Edward._

"I know," I said, and I liked to think that I did know her well enough to realize that. But I also knew that worrisome thoughts that had nothing to do with said serious conversations-like worrying about Tanya, for instance-could crop up at any moment. "But I also know there are other things on your mind," I said meaningfully. "And really, you've got not a single thing to worry about in that vein." I nosed my way past her jawline and whispered directly in her ear. It was barely audible to her, and in the closed car, sitting outside as we were, it was likely that the whispered words were as private as I intended them to be.

"I am utterly yours."

Her arms tightened around me. _I know. I love you. It just hurts to think of someone not respecting that, not just like the idiots at school, but someone with a lot of power, someone like Tanya._

I nodded, trying to understand her fear, even though it could never come to pass. I may not feel particularly close to Tanya, but I knew that she and her entire family had more integrity than to disrespect someone's bond like that. She had only been interested to begin with because I was vegetarian, single, and had the appropriate gender and sexuality. But I also knew that telling Bella again wouldn't help-she knew all of this already-and there was no way to say it even now without alerting Tanya to it.

I smiled a little. They were here, and I couldn't hear their minds. God, it was _bliss._

Still, we needed to get out of the car and begin. "Come on," I said softly. "Let's get this show on the road. You and Charlie have some family to meet."

_Oh, goody._

I laughed lowly. I was looking forward to getting a glimpse of Alice's memories from the moment the Sisters were introduced to _their_ new extended family: a pack and a half of werewolves. All the same, I was planning on relishing the moments in Bella's mind for as long as I could. I knew that all too soon I would need to be out of her head and monitoring people's minds to make sure that everyone was on the same page and that no one person's thoughts were spinning out of control.

Still, I made the most of the brief moment of near privacy and gave Bella another, deeper kiss. I unfastened her seatbelt with my left hand and massaged her hip with my right as my tongue slipped between her lips to touch and taste the familiar savory textures.

I let her fill my senses and reveled in the sheer bliss of being in her mind and her mouth, her scent filling my nose and her body underneath my hands. For this brief moment she was all there was in my world, and I lost track of time again, so focused on the present as I was.

It was Bella tugging on my hair and whispering in my mind that broke my focus. _We should go in__._

"Of course," I murmured softly against her lips as I placed small kisses, tiny kisses, really, all around over her lips.

_Hah!_ She thought as she slid out of the car and held her hand out for me, as I usually did for her. I grinned at her and indulged her fancy. _I get to open the door for you, and help you out! Hah!_

"Thank you, Bella," I responded politely, grinning.

"You kids are weird," Charlie murmured.

"It's about to get weirder, Charlie," I pointed out as we made our way to the front door.

"Yeah. I may need more coffee for this," he replied.

"I'm on it, Edward," I heard Emmett reply quietly from within the kitchen. I had been largely ignoring the crowd assembled in the living room, but I could tell that everyone was already there. We were the last to arrive.

"Oh," I said, just now thinking to warn Bella. "Esme's been rearranging a bit," I said.

But then we opened the front door and Bella saw for herself. In that moment I also decided that the better part of valor would be to extract myself from Bella's mind and so get ready.

Ah, yes. I could feel my shoulders tightening with the onslaught. It didn't help that every Cullen in the place save Leah could tell I was now listening, and they all had something to say to me.

_Have to make an entrance, don't you, Edward?_ Thank you, Rosalie.

_I've got some breakfast munchies that are still warm if your humans are interested, Edward. I'll plate them and bring them out with Charlie's coffee. _Thank you, Emmett.

_Edward, I'm so glad you've arrived. We can begin, once you make the introductions. I take it that Charlie is comfortable enough? Well, we'll see, won't we? We'll do our best. _This, from Carlisle.

_Oh, Edward, excellent. Leah was beginning to get a bit antsy. You know how she can be when she's expecting you and Bella and you get delayed. Not that you were delayed, dear. Of course you weren't. But you know how she gets. _True, Esme, true.

_It really is quite hard for you, isn't it, Edward? I mean, I haven't thought much about it before, but that moment that you come out of Bella's head, I've watched that happen a few times now, at least, times that I'm pretty sure that's what's going on and it always looks like you're in pain that you hide sometimes less well than other times. Do we count on your talent too much, Edward? It's not utterly essential right now. If it hurts that much, I don't think Carlisle would object._ I cut my eyes to Alice in response and let my eyes dart to the side and back once, my simple and understood negative response.

_Holy smokes, what just happened to Tanya. Edward? You getting that? _No, I'm a little busy over here, Jasper. Nevertheless, I turned my attention to the Denalis. We'd only just walked through the door, the three of us. While I scanned Tanya and company, I looked at Bella.

As everyone else was entirely too loud and she wasn't projecting significantly, while I could not hear Bella's thoughts, I watched her expression as she quickly glanced around. I had no idea if it was the arrangement and variety of furniture, or the people they contained. There were several small love seats in a variety of styles, one large comfortable couch with attendant coffee table, and one massive leather double sectional pit and they were all fashioned into a rough and very large circle. My piano was gone, removed to the garage for the time being. There were also a number of new people we were about to walk toward, who had just risen when we entered the room.

I scanned their minds to take the temperature, so to speak, even as I verbally introduced Bella and Charlie to the assembled group.

"I'd like to introduce to you my wife, Isabella, and her father, Charles Swan."

Eleazar was intrigued by both Bella and Charlie and classified them both as mental shields, but Bella he pictured with walls and Charlie he pictured with weather. I wondered why.

Carmen was concerned with Charlie's presence, even though his position had been explained to them before we'd arrived. She was still concerned.

Kate was worried about Irina and not entirely focused on the here and now.

Irina's thoughts were consumed by...Laurent? Interesting. She was obsessing about him in a way that made me think perhaps she'd found her mate, but if that were the case, where was he? I'm not entirely certain he would be welcome here so quickly and easily, but the question would have come up if he'd still been with the Denalis. It never came up.

Tanya was... Oh, holy shit.

My eyes cut to Jasper. I really wish Alice didn't have a headache, and could see what the future held.

_Is she pining like that for you? I mean, that's some strong attachment she has, and it just started. It wasn't there before you walked in._

I knew my eyes were wide, but I tried to modulate my features all the same.

_Baby, what's going on?_ I could hear Bella just barely and her tone carried quite a lot of worry.

I caught Tanya's eye and gave an arch look. I gave her a really, really arch look.

_Edward,_ she thought, her tone one of growing panic. _Is what I think happening, happening? Finally? Is this what it feels like?_

_Edward, if not you, then who? Who, Edward?_ Jasper demanded.

_Edward__, what's going on?_ Carlisle demanded, coming into the room with Emmett.

_Edward, what just happened? Jazz is flipping over here, and I hate not knowing what is going on, _Alice demanded.

_Why is Edward having a stare-off with that Vamp Chick, _Leah wondered.

_Dude, Edward, what's the what with blondie over there? _the Pack wondered in several different but rather similar iterations, all at once.

_What the fuck, Edward? Are you starting shit with Tanya?_ Rosalie demanded.

I closed my eyes for a brief moment, nodded at Tanya and wished I had my journal with me.

I lost Tanya when she broke into ancient Slavonic in her mind, but I caught the gist. The mental images helped.

Should I say anything? I ought to tell Carlisle, but my usual system of doing that, through Alice, was currently inoperable. I briefly thought through several scenarios and immediately decided that the best way to go forward was to get Tanya and Charlie out of earshot so she could explain the situation to him and we could discuss it briefly amongst ourselves. Also, so Bella could have whatever reaction she needed to, without permanently scarring her father.

"Charlie, I just remembered that I forgot something I needed today in Bella's bedroom. My journal-it's sitting on her bedside."

"I'd be happy to run and get it for you, Edward, if Charlie wouldn't mind showing me the way. Have you ever run with Edward, Charlie?" Tanya asked sweetly.

"Uh, no."

"I've been told it's a singular sensation. Come with me?" Tanya asked, already taking a step in the direction of the door with her hand outstretched to Bella's father.

I whispered quickly, as to not alert the man in question. "Give us thirty minutes and tell him before you get back."

I could feel Bella squeezing the hell out of my hand and knew that her panic was rising. _What is that woman doing with my father? _I could hear clearly, even outside her head.

I looked to Jasper and nodded before I addressed the assembled crowd.

"Won't you excuse us for a moment? Jasper will explain."

I slipped back in Bella's mind and led her out through the kitchen, and then out to the backyard.

_What is going on Edward?_

I picked her up in my arms and looked at her panicking face. "I'll tell you in a minute. Hold on tight, close your eyes."

Her grimace nearly tore my heart out as she clenched her eyes shut and curled up in my arms, her legs in tightly, her arms so tight around my neck I was certain she would be sore and perhaps bruised later on. _I hate this, I hate this, I hate this._

"I know, sweetheart, I'm sorry," I said, starting off very slowly and running at a quarter of the speed I normally would with her.

_Why are we going so slowly?_

"Because I know how hard it is on your body when I run with you like this. We just need some privacy, and we have a half an hour for our discussion."

"What discussion? What is going on, Edward?" _I'm scared and I'm getting pissed off!_

I stopped running, we'd gone far enough that I could no longer hear Jasper explaining, or the ensuing tumultuous response of vampire joy and werewolf disgust. I gently set Bella on the ground, but didn't take my hands from her waist. I had no idea how Bella would respond to this, given the conversation we'd had just the other night with Jacob. I was hoping she would take it in stride, but she was typically less in control of her emotions when she was menstruating and today she was still menstruating... We would get through it, of that I was certain. I only wasn't certain that a half hour would be sufficient.

"Tanya has just found her mate... and it's Charlie."

* * *

_**End Note: **_Reviews are better than Dark Chocolate, which is saying a lot. More than you realize. Leave me a review! And if you like, follow along with the madness & revolution on Twitter: (a)sareliz. See you there!


	42. Something of a Summit

**Title**: Something of a Summit  
**Author**: Sare Liz  
**Disclaimer**: In a surprise move, the author of this work of fiction admits that the characters did not originate with her, but instead with some other woman (also a rather religious Christian) who lives slightly west of here.  
**Continuity**: Book 3, Chapter 5 of The Day The Earth Stood Still  
**Beta**: Colleen. Sweet Jesus, she still talks to me. Understand that 350,000 words later and she still doesn't really like Edward...

**Chapter 5**: Something of a Summit

* * *

I stood back and let her pace for a moment. I listened to the rapid beating of her heart that didn't quite match the tempo of her crunching pace amongst the forest's fallen leaves. Her pacing didn't last long, however. She engaged in it for really less than a minute before she stopped and wrapped her arms around herself. She had booted me forcefully from her mind the moment she heard my words.

It was moments like this I wished I had a way with words. Judging from my track record telling Jacob that he was going to imprint on Elisabeth, and now telling Bella that her father was going to be mated for the rest of his days with Tanya, I clearly did _not_ have a way with words. If I did, perhaps I'd be able to properly preface what I wanted to convey in such a way where the full message would be clear, but not painful, or at least, not jarring. Well, that wasn't me, obviously. What I could do, however, was be here for Bella afterwards.

I watched her, and tried take everything in. Her breathing and heart rate were elevated. Her mind was closed. It was too cold out here for her to be out for long if her body temperature decreased any-right now she was so upset that it wasn't an issue. Her emotions were quite literally keeping her warm right now. Still, it wouldn't take me thirty seconds to do a round trip back to the house to get her a jacket. I might do that sooner than later.

Actually, now might work.

"Love, I know you're still processing. Is it okay if I run back to the house and get your coat? I'll be back before you can count to fifty."

She shook her head quite violently, which surprised me. I really wasn't going to be gone for very long...

"Okay," I replied. When she didn't say anything else, I tried again. "Um, it's cold out here, Bella. We need to talk, and we have a half hour, but you're going to get cold before then and I don't want you to be distracted by that. So, I was-"

Bella had put her hand up in the air to stop me. I blinked in surprise.

"Don't leave me," she said simply.

"Okay," I responded quickly. I felt like something else ought to be said at this point, but I had no idea what it was. Still, if she wanted me not to leave her, then I certainly wasn't going to leave her.

It was quiet for a long moment after that and the silence was not anywhere close to comfortable.

"Let's just go back," she finally said. "We can go in your back window and have this conversation there. It'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" I argued gently. "I want to make sure you have all the privacy you need." Privacy she had no chance of getting in our bedroom. Our bedroom. _Ours._ I noticed that in her moment of stress, the bedroom and its attendant window became mine again.

"I'm fine," she snapped, nearly cutting me off. "It's fine," she said again, in a calmer tone. Her arms were still crossed tightly to her chest.

"Okay," I said. I'm not sure that 'fine' really described her current mental state, but if she wanted to go back, we would go back.

I approached her softly and gently picked her up. I treasured her weight in my arms, the heat of her body, the smell of her skin. I ran with her slowly and put her down at the back of the house, ignoring the people inside as best I could, though they greeted me on our arrival. I let go of her briefly and left her standing for just a moment. I sprang up and opened the window-door to our room as I held on to a handhold on the back of the house. When I dropped back down again, Bella was waiting with her arms outstretched. I sprang up again with her in my arms and walked into our room. Bella found her feet again but took my hand in hers and held on tightly. I closed the window and grabbed the cashmere throw as Bella led me to the edge of the bed. She nodded that I should sit on the edge even as she toed off her sneakers. I was fairly certain I knew what she had in mind. I sat such that my knees were just on the edge and held out a hand for her. She climbed onto the bed and onto me. It took her a moment to get situated, but I waited patiently and then when she was settled facing me with her legs wrapped around my waist, I wrapped the small blanket around her shoulders and back and then held her.

Four minutes passed in silence before I tried to speak.

"Am I allowed back in?" I whispered to her, even as I rubbed the back of her neck.

_Sure,_ I heard softly just before I pushed gently on her mind and feeling no resistance, slid right in.

"Thank you," I whispered.

_No problem. Sorry about that, from before._ Her mindscape was otherwise very, very quiet, very still. She'd let me in, but she was clearly keeping all of her thoughts under lock and key.

"How are you doing?"

_Fine. I'm fine, _she thought very clearly at me, even as she clung to me with arms and legs, hiding her face in my neck, hiding her thoughts behind closed doors.

"What do you think about Charlie and Tanya?"

_That's fine. It's good for him. He's been alone for too long._

Huh. If only her words matched all the other signals she was sending, it would be a more believable statement. At the same time, I wasn't sure that now was quite the time to try to elicit a reaction by saying something intentionally inflammatory, perhaps about Tanya's sexual history. We had just over twenty minutes and less privacy than would be required. And yet, I wasn't sure what kind of conversation we were about to have as a family downstairs, and I would have preferred if Bella weren't distracted by unprocessed emotions. It's hard to be fully present when you were upset by the incident that happened before.

I took a deep breath in and sighed it out. I really had no idea what was the best way forward.

_Edward, I know you're worrying about me. Really, I am okay. I just need a little more time to let this sink in. Like maybe a few days. Maybe a week. Then we can talk. I just... this just... came a little out of left field for me. Tanya was... I was expecting... I mean, I wasn't expecting... I... Time. I need... I need more time._

That made sense. I shifted slightly so I could speak quietly into her ear. It was intimate, if not actually private. "How about you start that assimilation time right now, and I'll just hold you? I'll make sure we're back downstairs before Charlie comes back."

_Thank you_, she said as she nodded. I could feel her arms tighten momentarily around me.

I relished simply holding her until I could hear the SUV turn off the main road and into our long drive. Bella wiggled and clambered off my lap but kept the thin blanket draped like a shawl across her shoulders when we went downstairs.

_Just an FYI,_ she said as we passed the last landing on our way down the stairs. _I've completely lost my appetite. Please don't make a big deal about it. I guess I am kind of upset and if I eat, I'll just make myself sick._

I nodded.

_Also, I'm due to actually start bleeding today. Just thought you should know, if you haven't been keeping track._

I looked at her with a moment of alarm. Her menstruation wasn't exactly like clockwork and she had a much easier time of keeping track of it than I did, at least, without quizzing her unduly which I'd found quickly that she didn't always enjoy.

_Stop giving me that look. I'm not an idiot, Edward. I'm about to start bleeding in a room full of vampires. Give me some credit. I already put the cup in. Lots of yummy blood for you, later. Emphasis on later. Speaking of which, where are we sleeping tonight?_

Well, if she was bleeding, we sure as hell weren't sleeping here, unless everyone else was planning on getting the hell out of dodge, which wasn't likely given that we had guests. However, the entrance of Tanya into Charlie's life, and possibly Charlie's _house _ threw a bit of a spanner into the works.

Possibly we were sleeping in a hotel in Port Angeles tonight.

"Depends," I said softly as I leaned over and spoke into her ear as we walked. "Possibly a hotel. In Port Angeles. Maybe a bed and breakfast. I'll check it out during lunch."

_Huh. Privacy going to be an issue, then? Okay. I don't want you to snub your extended family, though._

"Our," I corrected as we walked down the last flight of stairs. "And my priorities are perfectly ordered," I pointed out. Bella came first, hands down. Always.

We were back in the living room as Tanya and Charlie came back in the front door.

I watched as Charlie caught Bella's eye the moment he entered the house. He nodded once once to her. Carlisle greeted them at the door and took Charlie's jacket. Leah got up to get some coffee for herself and Charlie even while she muttered the word 'awkward' under her breath. The room had fallen silent when they'd heard us on the stairs and now the silence was deafening.

Yes, this was awkward. Still, I didn't fault Leah for wanting to get out of the room, if only for a moment.

"Charlie, why don't you join me and Bella over here?" I asked, indicating the leather sectional that Leah had just vacated. Everyone in the room started to move then, ten of the eleven other vampires, and all of the shifters in the room, each back to the areas Esme and Alice had provided for them. It was like the spell had been broken, at least momentarily, and I was grateful. We three walked over and just as we were about to sit down, Charlie handed me my journal.

"Thanks," he said simply. I nodded and placed it on the coffee table in front of us.

I came back out of Bella's mind just as she grabbed my hand and held it on her leg. I reached over to scratch gently at the back of her hand, as I couldn't get to the back of her neck, letting her know my mental status. Meanwhile, it was _very_ loud in this room where no one was saying a damn thing with their vocal chords.

None of it was particularly pertinent, until I shifted my focus to our guests.

_May I please join you, Edward? _Tanya was asking.

I glanced over to meet her eye and gave one subtle and slow shake of my head. If Charlie hadn't invited her to sit with him, I wasn't going to either. I had no idea what it would do for Charlie, but it sure wouldn't help Bella out at this point. At least, I didn't think it would.

Immediately Tanya went to sit on an antique settee with her sisters. I watched as she and Irina exchanged a grim look. Irina's thoughts were full of Laurent. She was fervently hoping that he would return soon, seconding guessing her decision to come down here, wondering what was so damned important, and hoping that Tanya would have an easier time of it than she did. Irina was banking on it, though, given that Tanya had mated with my mate's father. Tanya, of course, was thinking of Charlie. She was intensely curious about the mundane details of his life, with which I could sympathize. I spent a moment wondering how on earth their relationship was going to progress, but I didn't linger on it long. I could help Bella and Charlie cope with the situation, but I was little more than an observer, really.

When Leah came back in with two mugs of coffee, handing one to Charlie and the curling up with hers within arm's reach of me, I could hear the tumult of the pack's mind. There was no consensus as to how they felt about Leah-a shifter, yet a woman, formerly Sam's fiance, off on her own, a raging bitch, one of them and yet not with them, with us. With Bella and I, her adopted siblings and future in-laws.

It was pertinent to note that Rose and Emmett sat with the pack in the massive double pit that had temporarily replaced my piano. She was like some sort of werewolf queen over there with a dozen burly, half-dressed native teens sprawled about her. Really, only Jake and Sam were completely upright, and I was sure it fed her ego appropriately. Still, I know it was probably the first and maybe only time she'd get to experience motherhood, so I tried not to judge too much.

I didn't have much time to consider it, however. As soon as Leah sat down, Carlisle began.

* * *

We stopped only a few hours in for lunch for the humans and the shifters. Alice had already seen that I would be searching the Internet for a bed and breakfast with a vacancy in Port Angeles. She didn't like the outcomes, and frankly neither did I, but when she started to see what would happen if she planned to search for the same in Victoria, I balked. It would be a convenient time for Bella and I to attend the Sunday morning church of the priest who would marry us. We didn't often get there, but this seemed like a perfect opportunity. I very clearly made that decision, and Alice shifted gears. A quick search for five star hotels in Port Angeles was fruitful, and when I decided to do as she suggested during the lunch break and book a room at the Red Lion Inn, Alice argued.

_Please. Let me help. This has all been such a strange, crazy-making day, and I'm over here feeling completely useless. I'll book the room, order dinner and pack. You'll need the electric blanket. We really should get an extra one for travel. Oh, wow, Bella lost her appetite, huh? Well, that's common with humans under stress, right? Well, let's see if there's anything that I can think of to whet her appetite. Now, what is on the menu? Ah, okay. Steak? No. Burger? No. Veggie bugger? No. Club sandwich? No. Tuna salad? No. Omelet? No. Bagel with a side of cream cheese? No. Toast? No. Fried chicken? No. Potatoes? No. Come on, Bella, don't you want some comfort food? Oh, wait. Salad? Maybe. With chicken? Er, maybe. Shrimp? No, definitely not shrimp. Chicken it is. What about alcohol? Hmm, a glass of white wine with a salad topped with chicken? Perfect. Well, okay, not perfect. She'll eat most of it, however, which is better than the other options. Hm, how much wine? Half a glass... one glass, two glasses... No, not two glasses. One and a half glasses... Okay. She has to stop at one and a half glasses, unless you want a wife who is complete uncommunicative. I'm sure you can come up with a diversionary tactic at that point, however__. _

_I'm so all over it, Edward. Don't worry._

I very clearly decided to write Alice a thank you note. I often decided such things, but never actually did it. It was my way of allowing her to read my thoughts, of a sort. If she was paying attention and I clearly imagined writing something out that she could find, I could communicate with her quite clearly. I could read her thoughts and she could read my plans.

'_Dearest Alice,_

'_Thank you very much for your care and concern of me during this strange time. For a variety of reasons, all of which you are aware, Bella and I would like to be away from both of our households this evening. I don't know how long it will take Bella and Charlie, each in their turn, to assimilate the presence of Tanya in their lives. I suspect that I'm about to see a side of Bella I have not yet seen, and I appreciate your care and concern._

'_Your loving brother,_

'_Edward_

Though she never received one physically, Alice loved my thank you notes, and as soon as it was clear to me that she'd finished reading, I changed my mind and decided not to write it after all.

That taken care of, my thoughts turned to Leah. I wandered into the kitchen. The other pack and Charlie had been served at the dining table, but Leah ate at the counter with Bella, who had a glass of ginger ale in front of her. Off to one side, I slung my arm around Leah and leaned into the counter.

"Everything good?" I asked, and it was immediately clear to me that she understood I wasn't asking about the food, but rather the other two pressing items. First, she and Sam were under the same roof for an extended period of time. In the same room, even. Second, Bella and I were under stress. Whenever that happened and Leah knew about it, Leah herself got very, very stressed out.

She shrugged. _Haven't freaked out yet. You and Bella gonna be okay?_

"Absolutely," I replied as I held my breath, leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

_Yeah, yeah. Communication. You'll communicate and talk it out and everything will be okay. I remember,_ Leah thought and I could practically hear her eyes rolling skywards.

Communication was the clear key, that was true, but it wasn't self evident when that communication was going to occur. Bella had taken a lot in stride since we'd met-everything, really, up to this point-but all of the challenges to her sense of how the world ought to be had taken place within her own autonomy, her own realm of decision making ability. This event was outside of that realm. It wasn't up to her that Tanya had chosen Charlie, or visa versa. And she wasn't dealing with it so much as she was compartmentalizing. Still, I wasn't going to push, yet. If she was still like this Monday evening, perhaps I'd push then.

* * *

The summit only took three-quarters of the day. Nothing had really been decided except that we would all lay low and be particularly vigilant about keeping the rest of our lives and home regions neat and tidy so as not to attract undo attention. Most of the Denalis, Irina being the obvious exception, decided to linger a bit in the area so they could catch up with the family and keep Tanya company while she crawled up the walls when not in Charlie's company. Not that the last reason was stated so boldly, but it was what most everyone was thinking. This meant that it was, in fact, an excellent idea to get out of Dodge. Bella was under some significant stress,_ and_ she was menstruating, and for these two issues we had no privacy.

And while there was no such thing as privacy, I did manage to simulate a moment with Charlie after all was said and done, and before Tanya snapped him up. I could hear her hovering.

"Charlie," I said quietly to him as we stood on the front porch getting some air. "I'm going to take Bella to Port Angeles tonight. We need some privacy which we're not going to get at either house." I said nothing about giving him and Tanya privacy, though that was on my mind, too.

He nodded and made a vaguely affirmative sound. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and looked out into the forest. "She okay?" he asked, his voice nearly a whisper.

I thought about my answer before I spoke, though the pause was indiscernible. "It's a lot to take in, as you know. She'll be fine. She just needs some time."

"She's not the only one," he said softly.

"Wanna go for a drive?" I asked.

Charlie did not look at me, but neither did he pause in his answer. "Sure."

"Let me go tell Bella and get the keys to the Vanquish."

Bella was... numb and quiet. "Charlie and I are going to take a spin in the Vanquish. We shouldn't be gone long, and when I return we can get going, if you like."

Her smile didn't reach her eyes and her mind was still and silent, but I was comforted when I felt her hands softly on my waist as she leaned in to brush a kiss against my cheek.

_Love you. Thank you for taking care of him._

After the brief and incredibly chaste kiss we leaned back and I held her gaze. It was vacant, like she couldn't stand to be here, but she had nowhere else to go. I promised myself in that moment that I would not be gone long with Charlie. I also mentally praised Bella's ability to compartmentalize. I had no idea it could be so handy.

"I won't be long," I murmured again.

She nodded and went back to her conversation with Esme and Kate, and I watched as she became animated and seemingly joyful when just a moment ago I had seen the true state of numbness beneath it all. I wasn't sure what the right thing was to do, but I knew I didn't want to leave her, not when she was like this.

_Go, Edward. Talk to Charlie. Poor guy probably needs some perspective. I'll still be here when you get back._

'_I'll still be here...'_ The echo of her words twisted in my heart. I didn't want her to feel like she was coming in second in any way. She shouldn't have to wait. I should be waiting for her.

I wrestled with this for a long enough moment that she noticed and glanced over to me with an eyebrow raised.

_Edward, so help me, if you don't get the hell out of here and go hang out with my father, I'm going to convince Leah that it is in the best interest of our relationship that she kick your ass when you least suspect it, and you know I can be convincing when I believe what I'm saying._

Her words made me smile the tiniest bit. I hope my eyes conveyed the depth and devotion of my love to her, but I doubted it. I took three steps backwards toward the doorway of the kitchen and Bella returned to her conversation. I gave Leah a meaningful look and let my eyes dart to the back of Bella's head and then back to Leah again. She nodded at me and sauntered over to my love and hopped up on the kitchen counter next to where Bella stood chatting with Esme about renovating the house in New Hampshire.

I passed Tanya on the way out of the house and I could tell from the look that she gave me that she was thinking something rather harsh she probably thought I could hear, but I was still at the outer limits of the protection of Bella's mind, so blissfully, I didn't. It wasn't until I was stepping off the porch with Charlie that I had to tear myself away before I was even more painfully ripped away due to distance. And then there was the cacophony, again. Twenty-five minds, and all thinking rather loudly about a variety of things. Well, twenty-three thinking loudly and two thinking so softly I could barely tell, in the deluge of sound.

Charlie followed me to the garage out building and when I opened the door and we stepped through, he whistled.

"Whoa."

"Rosalie and I are the car snobs," I said, using Bella's term. I'd become strangely accustomed to it by this point. "She likes to work on them. I just like to drive them," I said with a grin.

"You want to drive?" I asked, holding the keys at eye level with just my fore finger and my thumb.

"Sure," he said, with a shrug.

I opened the bay door, as we'd entered through a small side door, and once Charlie had made some minor adjustments, we were off.

It was interesting, really, how fast the Sheriff was driving my sports car down these largely empty country roads.

The sounds of the engine and the occasional mumble of far away minds were the only sounds for the first twelve minutes.

"This thing with Tanya. This for real?" he asked, finally.

"Yes," I replied.

"Like you and Bella?"

"Yes," I said.

"Well, fuck," he said.

I bit my tongue and said nothing.

"What's she like? Is she a good person?"

I knew what he was asking, or I thought I did. His daughter fell in love with a vampire who did not drink the blood of humans, and had a decent respect for human life. What of his own... ugh, I even stumbled over it in my own mind. Mate. Mate. His own mate. What of his own mate?

"She's been a vegetarian for longer than Carlisle has been around, she and her sisters. I don't know exactly when that started. She's not like Carlisle, but then no one is." At his questioning gaze, I elaborated. "Carlisle has never killed a human being, and never tasted human blood, outside of making myself, Esme, Rosalie and Emmett. Even as a frenzied half-mad newborn, starving and with no restraint, and no one to guide him. Even then, he refused."

"Huh."

I didn't know what he was thinking, but I could imagine. I'd just outed all of us for being killers, all of us except Carlisle. But I'd done it on purpose. I wasn't speaking to my father-in-law. I wasn't speaking to the Chief of Police. I was speaking to Charlie Swan, Tanya Denali's mate, and there was a certain reality he needed to be in touch with. I wasn't going to shove it in his face, but neither was I going to hold back.

"There's something else you should know. Not that it's going to deeply affect you, but I wouldn't want someone else mentioning it off handedly and you feeling like you'd had things kept from you."

Charlie snorted. "Up until now, there was a need to know policy, and I was fine with that. But I get your point. There is a whole lot more I need to know now." Charlie's deep sigh filled my ears, along with the pulsing of his blood.

"There's more to human skills and awareness than is usually given credit, and when a certain gifted human becomes a vampire, whatever skills and awareness that person had in the first part of their lives becomes... distilled and enhanced. There are several of us in this family who have such skills and awarenesses. It's very likely that you and Bella will as well, should in due course you both make good on the choice to change."

"What?" he asked sharply.

We'd had this conversation before, but I didn't judge. Human memory, even a very good one, didn't retain everything they were exposed to. And even when memory was retained, it wasn't necessarily correctly recalled. And previous conversations aside, the man was currently under a great deal of stress, whether he wanted to admit it or not. I went over the information again for Charlie.

"Well, when I say 'very likely', what I actually mean is 'absolutely assured'. I mentioned once before about Alice being able to see the future-she saw the twins," I prompted, and got a terse nod. I continued on. "Eleazar's gift is to see the sometimes latent talents of others before the change. Kate is shocking. Alice is visionary. Jasper sets the mood. I'm telepathic. You and Bella are both mental shields, though it's a bit different for each of you."

"What exactly do you mean? About Bella and me?" Charlie slowed slightly, and I was glad for it. I didn't trust his reflexes while he was like this, going at the speed we were.

"Because of the sort of telepath I am, I am particularly aware that you and Bella have some fairly strong and entirely natural mental shields. You see, I am able to hear the mental chatter of everyone within a five mile radius. Now, I'll grant you that this has certain perks, and certainly it has been very convenient for the family, but it's not particularly pleasant to live with because I can't turn it off and unlike regular hearing, wherein if you focus on one sound, for instance, the conversation in front of you, you naturally block out other conversations around you, it has never worked like that for me. It is beyond distracting, and I've never been able to live in anything other than a small town because of it.

"Now, you and Bella are different, but in different ways. You I can only reliably hear if you're upset and thinking very, very loudly. Otherwise, it's hit and miss, like tuning in a faint radio station. Sometimes I get a word, or a picture, but most of the time I don't even try."

"Try?" he asked. "I thought you couldn't turn it off."

I smiled wryly. "Well, I'm getting to that. Your daughter, on the other hand, intrigued me from the start. Well, alright, I was intrigued for several reasons. But one of them was the strange and delightful way her minds works. Bella was always very... quiet. So quiet that when I first saw her across the room in the cafeteria, I wouldn't have been able to make out her voice if she hadn't been thinking my name." At his inquiring gaze, I explained, "Someone at her table was giving her the lowdown on our family. Anyway. I was utterly fascinated with everything about her, which is completely normal for a newly mated couple, by the way, and I was desperate to know everything I possibly could about her. In that desperation, and without really realizing it until later, I did something I've never attempted with anyone else, so I really have no idea if it is even possible, or if it's just a function of my talent meeting with Bella's. I sunk inside of whatever mental protection made her voice so very muted, and in doing so, Bella was suddenly the only thing I could hear, mentally." At his alarmed look, I rushed to reassure him. "It doesn't hurt either one of us." I decided not to confuse the matter by telling him when it did hurt, as it only hurt me. "She also has a striking ability to allow me to see only what she wants me to in her mind, something my family would love to be able to do. Still, we can have almost complete conversations without saying much at all out loud, and there is a rather high degree of honesty, as I've let her read the journals I'd been keeping all along in recompense for being able to sit inside her head."

I could hear Charlie Swan take some very deep breaths.

"Go back to the part where you were saying what's normal for newly mated couples."

I let my eyes glaze over as I looked out onto the road and gazed simultaneously back to that day. "I was so fascinated with her. She had been in everyone's head all day, the new girl, Isabella-call me Bella-Swan. I'd seen her hundreds of times over and over again in other people's mind and then when I finally saw her everything inside me ground to a halt. I fell in love with her from across the cafeteria. I knew she was just as fascinated with me as I was with her. I recognized even at the time that the shape of her thoughts about me, the particular flavor and tone of them was exactly the same as all of the other mated couples I'd ever witnessed when they beheld their mate. It's a very particular and profound adoration that for Jasper and I, at least, is clearly recognizable. It's how I knew what happened when you saw Tanya.

"Anyway, it moved very quickly for Bella and I, though I'll point out that we show admirable restraint compared to the rest of my family when _they_ found _their_ mates. There's a need to be in physical proximity to her. I'm calmer when I'm around her, and I'm much calmer when I'm in her head, though that last part is undoubtedly just us. We understand each other in a really deep way, and that part is not unique to us. It's part of the bond. There's nothing I wouldn't do to keep her safe and well, and fragile as she is, she feels the same way about me." I decided to digress for a story.

"Back in March, that unsolved case you asked me about? It was the day of the Shakespeare and Strawberry Festival. Alice had seen that the weather would be perfect for it, and it isn't always, so we decided for a change of plans and instead joined the family in the middle of the day to go play baseball."

"Oh, right. I remember that day," Charlie said, his brow furrowed.

"We were out playing baseball and Bella was umpire with Esme catching and helping out. I wasn't in her head so I could enjoy being with my family as I had been for the last eighty plus years, and so I watched along with Alice as she had the vision of the nomads changing their course. They were leaving, on their way out of the area as they had picked up our scent and realized they were poaching, so to speak. But then they heard us playing baseball and changed their minds. As they came closer, I read their minds to get an idea of what sort of people they were. There were three. One was a hanger on who was considering leaving the other two as he didn't particularly like them or how they lived. The other two were a mated couple. One was a tracker; he had a talent to be able find people once he'd gotten their scent, so to speak, but he was also sadistic and liked to play games.

"I knew that finding Bella in our midst would be intriguing to the group, but we decided that if they agreed to leave with no more harm we would let them go. If, however, the tracker decided to hunt Bella now or later, it would end right there.

"Long story short, he did make that decision. We can move faster than you can think, and so it all happened very quickly. One moment we were in a protective formation around Bella and the next minute she was on the other side of the open field in Esme's arms while the odd man out was pinned to the ground, the mate was in pieces, and the tracker was getting his head ripped off."

"Did you do that?" Charlie asked quietly.

"It would have been my pleasure, but no. I ripped his throat out. Alice tore him limb from limb, head first." At Charlie's horrified look, I added, "It turns out that one of his sadistic games was the reason Alice is a vampire." At Charlie's continued stunned look in my direction, I added more. "She's little and she's cute, but she's still a vampire."

"Anyway, the point of the story is to illustrate that Bella has the same instinct to protect me as I do her. She said the worst part was waiting, not knowing what we were capable of, afraid for our safety and unable to do anything but try and be invisible. It wasn't just that she hated being the weakest, she couldn't stand not being able to protect. Her body may still be weak, but her heart is ferociously strong and though it pains me to even think of it, I think she would die to keep me safe. I know I feel the same way about her."

"What happened to the other guy? The odd man out."

"He was intrigued by our lifestyle, but afraid to learn from us. He's been living on and off with the Denalis since the incident." I left out the confusion as to whether or not he was Irina's new mate. I didn't understand how she could be confused about the matter, so I decided it would only muddy the waters at present. Besides, there was something else I really needed to broach.

"There's another dimension that is rather significant to a newly mated couple and remains significant for the first ten years or so. I know you realize that Bella and I are sexually active," I said, deciding to go for a polite euphemism to momentarily disguise the fact that I just wanted to fuck Bella all the damn time. It was going to become all too clear in just a moment, but I'd hoped to ease him into how this information might apply to him and Tanya. "We've discussed before how the intensity helps a newly mated couple to bond securely and for centuries. Well, because we were discussing your daughter, it's possible that I downplayed the intensity involved. As a matter of fact, I downplayed it significantly. I didn't want you to think ill of me, or judge Bella, but the truth is that mating comes with an almost overwhelming desire to have continuous sexual contact for approximately a decade. I can put my life on hold for that long and have happily done so, but I recognized at the start that Bella couldn't and that it would be reprehensible of me to even infer that she should. And even if she did, she's still human and not physically capable of sustaining continuous sexual contact for extended periods of time. She has a human's body, even if she has a vampire's libido. All the same, we can only go without for about eighteen hours before we start getting irritable and irrational."

I let that sink in for a moment in silence before continuing on to a place I really, really didn't want to go to.

"The next part isn't pleasant, but you should know about it. Vampires mate for life and we quite often find our mate while our mate is still human. Even so, while vampires are very durable, we're not indestructible. We don't sleep, we don't wear out and we do regenerate, but we can die just like a human when we're burnt. The only way to burn us to ash without us fighting back is to tear us up into pieces first. Werewolves, shifters, and the fey can do this, and we can do this to our own. I'm fairly certain a human wielding a laser could do it, if they could catch us somehow immobile for long enough. The point is, a mate can die, and it's happened at least once that Carlisle knows of. The mate that is left is left devastated and broken, irreparably and at the same intensity for the rest of their rather long life. It's the cruel flipside to the joy and completion of being mated."

"Well," Charlie said, and in a much happier tone than I would have anticipated, "I've done the devastation part. If that's the worst that can happen, I could be okay with this mating thing."

I laughed despite myself.

"Don't get me wrong," Charlie said. "I haven't made any decisions about anything yet. I don't suppose I will for a bit. And you've given me some thoughts to chew on. Thank you for that." Charlie made a turn that would take us eventually back to the house.

It was quiet in the car until we were a few miles away from the turn off.

"Continuous sexual contact, huh?"

"Yeah. That came as a bit of a surprise. I even knew it was coming, but I always sort of assumed that couples in that stage just had no self control. The truth is, if they are more than about a week into that stage and they're _not_ having continuous sexual contact, they are showing incredible amounts of self control."

"And that was more than I needed to know about my daughter's sex life."

"And that's why we're going to a hotel tonight. That, and because the feeling is mutual."

"Hey, I don't put out on the first date."

I looked over at him then and thought about it. "Four days," I said. "Ten on the outside."

"Oh yeah? You want to make a bet?"

I raised an eyebrow. Charlie Swan was going to fit into this family just fine. I nodded.

"And if I win?"

"What do you want?" I asked, genuinely curious.

He pulled into the still open garage bay and turned the car off. He stroked the dashboard lightly. "This car?" He gave me a tentative look, but I answered with what was probably a shit eating grin.

"And if I win, you convince Bella that the truck means absolutely nothing at all to you, and that it's a wonderful idea to accept a car from her husband with a much higher safety rating."

Charlie barked out a single, short laugh and I could hear Tanya's obsessive thoughts about him as she walked closer to meet us.

"Deal?" I asked.

"Deal," he agreed, holding his hand out.

By the time we got out of the car, Tanya was there, standing by the back tire. Charlie made to give the keys back, but I offered the car to him for the evening, mentioning that we'd be taking Bella's truck.

They were both gone by the time I'd gotten inside the house to find my very compassionate wife. I slipped inside her mind before I located her in the house and it took me a moment to find the cadence of her heart and breath and realize that she was alone in our bedroom. I nodded to Leah on the way.

Bella was sitting on the leather sofa listening to music and the moment after I walked into the room I realized she must be listening to her iPod on shuffle. It went from Chopin's Nocturne #15 in F Minor to 'The Circle of Life' from The Lion King. It was such a change in mood that we both laughed and it broke the tension that felt rather thick just a heartbeat before. I knelt before her and took her her hands in mine.

"Hey. How is he?" she asked.

"Taciturn. It's a family trait when you're upset, I find."

Bella shrugged and looked unrepentant.

"He was interested in knowing some of the pertinent points of being mated. I told him. I also told him the ins and outs of my telepathy."

_Did you tell him about the sex?_ she asked dryly.

I nodded slowly with a half smile. Sex and death. It had been the most uncomfortable part of the conversation, at least for me.

"Better you than me," she said aloud.

"I phrased it well," I said.

_So you didn't use the phrase 'hornier than a goat'?_

I held in a chuckle and shook my head.

_Well?_

It had been a long day and really, I was ready for a bout of the previously mentioned continuous sexual contact and I was ready to be in a place where I could initiate it instead of just talk about it in the bold faced hearing of twenty-three others.

"I'll tell you on the way," I said. "Are you about ready to go?"

She shrugged. _Do we need to pack, or has someone-read: you or a certain vampire pixie we both know-already done that? Let me guess. Our bags are already in my truck._

I nodded.

_Well, then. _"Yep, I'm ready," she said. There was something off about her speaking voice, slight though it was. I could hear more easily in her aural voice that there was the thinly veiled numbness beneath all of this. Either this was all too much for her to completely compartmentalize, or I was getting better at this.

Still holding hands, I rose to my feet and was a gentle source of steadiness for my persistently off-balanced love. I thought briefly of the irony usually inherent in that concept. Bella was forever keeping me on an even keel emotionally even while I balanced her out in the physical world. Tonight I would need to do both. I took comfort in Esme's sentiment to Rose so long ago. _'If she finds her future hard to bear, it will be Edward and no one else, nothing else that will make it bearable for her. It will be Edward and Edward alone that will make life worth living, if it comes to that...'_

_Edward, um... Shit, I feel terrible even asking this. Would it be a totally horrible faux pas if we snuck out without saying good-bye?_

Bella was asking _me_ if it would be a faux pas? This means she already knew that it was. Still, the wolves wouldn't mind, Leah would get over it, the rest of the family knew it was par for the course and the cousins could be soothed by Esme at her maternal best.

I backed slowly, still holding onto Bella, toward the window door across the room.

"Esme," I quietly drawled. "Would you please make our excuses? I need to take care of my wife." I couldn't keep the tenderness out of my tone as I held her gaze. She was so numb she didn't even blush.

"Of course, dearheart. Go. Make sure she knows we love her," I heard her respond quietly, three floors and five rooms away.

I let go of her hands to open the door, but even as I did so, I felt her hands press up against my chest and move steadily up until her forearms were hooked around my neck. I picked her up, cradling her against my torso and jumped out the window.

When we got to her truck, the keys were in the ignition where Alice had mentioned she would leave them.

"Shall I drive?" I asked, and got only a head nod in response. When I put the car in gear, I looked over at her. Her truck was immensely wide. "Why don't you lose the seatbelt and come over here? I'll keep you safe, I promise." She nodded again, unlatched it and slid over. She settled in, her legs easily straddling the stick shift that came up from the floor. When my hand wasn't on the shifter, I rested it gently on her knee.

"If you were a normal guy, this wouldn't be very safe. You're always on me to be safe," she said, her voice one notch above listless. I watched from the corner of my eye as she reached out and adjusted the radio so the cab of the truck was flooded with soft music.

"There might be a center seat belt." I hadn't insisted up on it, but it struck me that Rosalie might have had the forethought to put one in anyway. The truck as it had originally been constructed wasn't likely to have had any seat belts at all.

"Oh. Right. Yeah." She twisted around in the seat and dug between the bench and seat back for a bit, finally pulling out and uncoiling the long adjustable strap for the middle seat. I watched as she rearranged herself and strapped in, pulling the lap belt low and tight about her slim hips. When she was finished, she sighed and said nothing more for quite a while.

Just at the moment the needle hit seventy and I was about to put my arm around her shoulders, she stymied me and instead leaned into my body, wrapping her arms around my right arm and letting her head fall on my shoulder.

"Can I put my arm around you?" I asked gently.

_No,_ she thought succinctly. I was a bit taken aback but she did finally elaborate and assuaged my ego. _It's so awkward. No good place to lean when you do that. I always feel like I'm going to slide into the steering wheel or something. Not very comfortable. This is much more comfortable. It's nice. I can just be kind of boneless. I mean, I guess it's okay when I don't mind sitting up straight and stuff, but I want to lean, today._

I turned my head so I could kiss the top of hers. "I love you so very much."

_I know,_ she thought on a sigh. _Thank you so much for, you know, planning this and getting us out of there. I... just... yeah. Thank you._

"We both need it."

_Is that really true? You didn't just do this for me? I mean, either way is okay, I guess I just don't really see how this is for you, too._

"You don't have the benefit of being in my head to know what it looks like in here, but yes. I need this too. Aside from the very real and pertinent fact that I desperately want to make love to you and that today I'd like to do that in some measure of privacy, there is also the fact that you're upset and and I want to be able to comfort you in peace and give you... whatever you want. Whatever you decide you need."

_Just you. Just you for now. And that's weird-I mean, I don't feel much of anything. I don't feel bad. I don't feel good. But I do kinda wanna have sex. I mean, it's not like a burning desire or anything, I'm not sure I'd try to tackle you to the ground of my own accord, but if you were interested-and I know you always are-and maybe willing to do most of the work, then yeah, I could totally be up for that. Nothing to raucous. Soft. Gentle. But yeah, orgasms. I'm sure orgasms would do me a world of good right now._

"You and me, both. Haven't you noticed we both tend to get irritable and somewhat irrational when we've not spent enough, um, quality time together?"

Bella giggled softly. _You did not just 'um' sex, did you? Really? While we're totally alone?_

"Hey, don't knock it. You get to just think all of the things that I have to actually say. Give me some credit for being able to broach a subject that I was obviously not one hundred percent comfortable addressing."

"I'm sorry, baby," she murmured, shifting slightly so she could give my shoulder a kiss. _But to your point. I've definitely noticed how you get that way when you haven't eaten, and when you think I'm going to leave you, so maybe the threat of not having this closeness. Then again, in the situation you mentioned, both of us working through some sort of sexual deprivation situation, well, we'd both be irrational and it's possible that if it really is the case, I didn't notice it in you because I was irrational myself. In such a case where we're both so out of it, then from my perspective it's probably the rest of the world that looks insane. You'd be the only sane one here, besides me. So either way, it's kind of okay._

I smiled. "I love how your brain works, love, I really do."

I felt her shrug and we fell into a silence that was much more comfortable than before. I thought about all the things I wanted to do to try to cheer her up, but I threw them all out almost as soon as I thought of them. None of them would work, I didn't think. I had the nagging feeling that I just needed to _be, _in that very zen sense. I needed to wait. I needed to make sure that Bella was as safe as I could ensure so that she could actually feel that way, so she could relax and ease out of the numbness on her own.

I really didn't like the idea of having patience.

Still, logistically, this would require me to do essentially nothing more than normal. Protect her, love her, keep her safe, yes all of these things. Make love to her. Perhaps I would be more attentive in the next week or so of school if it seemed like she wasn't paying attention. I could catch her up in the weeks to come, if necessary. Mostly, I needed to not push. I needed to give up the idea that I could orchestrate the timetable of Bella's adjustment to this newness, which rather went against how I liked to understand the world, but for Bella... For Bella, I would rein in my desire to control everything. She'd been giving me quite a bit of practice in that area since we'd met, after all.

The rest of the evening was soft and gentle. There was no more drama. There was a light supper, a long soak in the jacuzzi bath tub, and many, many orgasms. It was the first day that Bella was menstruating and so it was... a high capacity night. I gave Bella a two hour massage that left her, particularly after three orgasms, utterly boneless. I held her as she slept and I whispered a litany of all that I loved about her for the first hour. I mingled with her mindscape as she dreamed and discovered that if I actually _spoke_ in her dreams instead of simply watching in fascination, horror, or humor along the side lines, that she sometimes would interact with me. It didn't work with every dream, every time, and just because I could participate didn't mean I seemed to change the dream much, but it opened a brand new avenue of fascination and interest for me. I vowed to get some books on dream interpretation tomorrow.

My favorite of the night was when Bella had shimmied and scooted around so that she had her back to me and was snuggled up against my front. At almost exactly the moment that I pressed my hardened length against the soft roundness of her rear her dream shifted and changed and I was in this one.

The dream mirrored reality quite closely. Dream Edward was behind his Bella, though I couldn't tell if he was in her or not, as their hips were covered by the blankets. Her breasts weren't, however, and in the dream I moved around to the other side of the bed so I could watch. Bella began to moan and writhe in the dream, though she didn't move in my arms as she slept, at least not at this point. Dream Me was nuzzling her neck, so I took the opportunity as I held her to whisper in her ear and see if she could hear me in the dream.

"My beautiful Bella, would you like me to make love to you?" I asked, and almost faltered because as I stood in her mind, I watched Dream Edward ask her the same thing at the same moment as he held her. It was like having an out of body experience, being able to watch myself do that. In our bed, I ran a hand up her torso and softly cupped one of her barred breasts only to see it happen in the dream right in front of me. I couldn't help but to groan and groan loudly, and then heard that groan in stereo-in reality, and in Bella's dream. I was getting to be a voyeur to _myself_ and it was weird. Also, wonderful.

Of course, then Bella answered in the affirmative... _and opened her eyes in the dream._ "Edward?" she asked both in reality and in the dream, though in reality her voice was soft and sleepy and in the dream her voice was much stronger and slightly confused.

"Yes, I'm here," I said, and it seemed that both Dream Edward holding her and the actual mental me who stood watching both said that at the same time. It made Dream Bella roll her eyes back into her head and moan loudly.

"Two Edwards..._oh, God, yes!"_

She sounded so unbelievably sexy that very suddenly I was much farther along than I normally was. I wasn't quite ready to come, but I could be in short order.

"Bella," I said, and again in the dream both Edwards present seemed to be speaking to her in stereo. "Would you like us both to make love to you?"

Bella chanted her yeses in reality and in the dream, both.

"Then tell us what you want each of us to do, sweetheart," we both seemed to say in unison.

"How do I tell you apart?" she breathed dreamily.

"The one behind you is Dream Edward. The one in front of you..." I trailed off for a fraction of a second and the stereo voice from in front and behind Bella paused momentarily. I was trying to figure out how to speak of myself. I was the real Edward, obviously, but it was a dream and she was dreaming about me, so it's not like the Dream Edward wasn't really me, and I was somehow managing to control him completely so far, so he really was me. Sort of. And yet, my own perception within Bella's dream didn't come from the figure behind her in the bed, even though that was my perspective as I looked down at her brown hair in reality. In the dream, in Bella's mind, I was looking at a room somewhat but not entirely like the one we were in currently, and I was facing a couple in the bed. Really, I was just in two places at once, and it was throwing me for a loop. I've never done this before. So what do I call the me that is standing next to the bed instead of in it? Voyeuristic Edward? Figment of Your Imagination Edward? Real Edward? Telepathic Edward? "...is Telepathic Edward."

"Silly Edward. You're always telepathic." Bella laughed in her dream as she reached a hand back and into the hair of Dream Edward, though in her sleep she was quiet and breathing deeply.

"Yes, I am, but this is a dream, love. You're dreaming," we said, Dream Edward and I.

"I'm dreaming? I'm dreaming of two Edwards? I had no idea I was so kinky! Neat," she said in her dream, and grinned there. She wiggled back against Dream Edward, and in reality I reached down to see how aroused this was making her. She was fairly aroused. I kept my finger buried deep inside her just for the hell of it.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm sorry to disappoint you. You're not dreaming of two Edwards. Maybe next time. You were dreaming that you were in bed with me, yes, and you still are, but I entered the dream just like I enter your mind whenever I'm with you. Except in your dreams I seem to get a body. And tonight... Tonight, God must love me, because tonight I spoke and you heard me." I started shedding clothes in the dream. Really, they were cramping my style anyway and I had no idea where they had come from in the first place.

"So," we said, "how do you want us?"

She moaned in the dream and in reality both. I climbed on the bed in her dream and pressed myself up against her before kissing her intensely. Meanwhile, in reality I had one arm underneath her, my hand cupping her breast and one hand buried in her very, very wet pussy. In reality I leaned into her ear and this time when I spoke it only came out of Dream Edward's mouth, possibly because mine was very busy sucking on Bella's tongue.

"Do you want us both, Bella? Do you want us at the same time, love?"

And then, right there as I figured out the logistics of taking Dream Bella's anal virginity without taking my wife's without her conscious permission, right then was the moment I figured out what this was.

Physically, I was behind Bella. Even in the dream, physically I was behind Bella. The things I did physically came out in the avatar behind Bella in the dream. Mentally, I was in front of Bella. The things I decided to do in my mind happened in front of Bella in the dream.

Never had my mind and my body been so disconnected in so pleasant a fashion. This could happen nightly and it would be okay with me. I really wish Bella would remember this one, but she rarely remembered her dreams. I knew that if a person woke up right after having one and then talked about it, chances were better that they would remember it. I decided in that moment to wake her up as soon as the dream ended, or started to transition to another.

And in the dream she broke the kiss, gasping that yes, please, she really wanted us both in her at the same time. We groaned in response.

"Turn around," we urged. I took my finger out from her and helped her shift in reality as she slept until we faced each other in the darkened room, me perpetually awake, she still quite asleep and dreaming. I hitched her leg up over my thigh and then held our bodies there, my hard cock momentarily trapped between our two bodies.

Back in the dream, I kissed the back of her neck as I guided my cock first and briefly into her searingly hot slickness in order to get some semblance of lubrication. If and when we ever tried this for real I would have to make sure to buy some good quality non-irritating lubricant for her because there is no way on earth I was willing to hurt her during sex. This, however, was a dream. In reality, I dipped a finger tip in that same wetness. I had a plan, you see.

In reality I pressed my lips softly, chastely against hers, not wanting to wake her up with a deep kiss, at least, not yet. Given that that set of lips were now occupied, the other me whispered in her ear, in the dream. "Just relax love. You're going to feel very full."

What can I say? I knew a lot about sexual practices I'd never participated in. Such was the life of a telepath.

And in reality, I shifted, lining my tip up with her wet deliciousness even as I brushed that wet fingertip against her _other _opening. In the dream, we both slid in at exactly the same slow, excruciatingly delicious rate. I treasured Bella's moan of ecstasy even as I shivered at the weird eroticism of the entire experience. My body and my mind were both making love to Bella in a whole new way. For the physical sensations, I could only _feel_ the physical me. I couldn't, for instance, have the physical sensation of being at Bella's back, _in Bella's ass_, but intellectually I was all over it. I could see it. I could think about it. _Oh, could I think about it..._ I could think about the mechanics involved and watch them play out before me like a director could tell actors what to do, and then see it happen.

And somehow, I was in a threesome of me, myself and my wife. Clearly there was more to being mated to a human than the Volturi were aware of.

"Should we bite you when we come, Bella?" we asked in opposite ears, whispering ever so softly, licking her in tandem.

"Yes!" she moaned loudly in the dream and in reality. She had one arm up and back and in my mind's hair, clutching and pulling that set of lips down to the crook of her neck. She had the other hand clutching in my body's hair and I could feel that in reality. I cradled her head from behind so I could take the other side of her neck and suck gently on both sides at the same time.

Pushing in and out of her every way I could, mentally and physically, for the first time in a long time, I didn't think I was going to last very long. I was on sensory overload.

"God, Bella, you are so fucking sexy," we murmured against her neck.

"Harder," she moaned in her dream.

I was more than happy to do as she insisted. Physically I had one hand cradling her head and one hand providing some actual physical stimulation on that little rosebud that we would clearly need to have a conversation about at some point when she was not in an emotional nightmare in her waking world.

Odd, I thought, that this should happen just exactly at this time. But to be truthful, if I could split myself into two for her in the waking world, I would.

Bella seemed to be approaching her orgasm very quickly and I couldn't have been more grateful.

The spew of profanity from my lips in the dream and in reality as she came was dimmed only when we sealed our lips against both sides her neck and bit. I enjoyed the prerogative Bella had given me long ago to take as much as I wanted at any one time and filled my mouth. We groaned hard while this happened and Bella started to wake.

The conversation that followed was interesting.

* * *

**End Notes**: Please. I'm dying, here. Tell me exactly what you think... If you don't, however will I know?


End file.
